FORNÉS x 2
THE
IMPRESSIVE & THE UNIMPRESSED
…But as evidenced by the unimpressed faces I see when I look down from
the mezzanine or linger in the lobbies after a show, too much of our theatre
has forgotten this. In its desire to be well-made, vetted and marketable, much
of English-language theatre has forgotten about this fundamental invitation.
Out theatre has forgotten to let us in.
Jordan Tannahill – Theatre of the Unimpressed
I’m not big on interactive theatre. Especially when I’m
napping. But I will make an exception for the current production of two Maria
Irene Fornés plays being presented in a freezer bag of a space in a basement in
Kensington Market. It’s not that it’s cold in there. But the lush silvery walls do look like
the upholstered inside of something I put one small salad and four bottles of wine in when I go on a
picnic, alone. Maybe some jello vodka and tequila shots for dessert.
Bad theatre does not put me to sleep. Exhaustion does. I
dozed off once, in the seventies, possibly the eighties, sitting in the front row,
during a lovely little production of Hamlet, starring RH Thomson. I think he was
playing Ophelia. Perhaps not? I mentioned it to him during a chance meeting on
the subway after his performance in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, and he scowled lightly and said “Oh, that was you.” I think Tom would have approved.
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| Michelle Latimer & Hardee T. Lineham in The Successful Life of 3 - productions photos by Troy Hourie |
I really don’t mind when audience members slumber lightly in a play I’m in. Sometimes they are doing us both a really big favor. It may in fact be a hallmark of what young’ish theatre maverick Jordan Tannahill calls the Theatre of the Unimpressed. From my first reading of his brilliant essay/novella, I have come to the conclusion that a sleeping pill could very well be the antidote for tedious theatricks. But there is no room for tedium in Theatre Asylum’s wonderful mounting of two short'ish plays by the radically inspired Cuban/American playwright of the 1960’s and onward.
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| l-r - Jamie Robinson, Hardee T. Lineham, and Michelle Latimer in Mud |
The Successful Life of 3
In the first 27 minute offering comprising the first third of the evening the metallic walled atmosphere floundered only a little due to the placement of the actors as they
are butted somewhat awkwardly between three
sections of audience in a long narrow space without enough bells and whistles
to distract us from the precarious view. But the arrangement of a couch or two
in one area is a pleasing and welcoming touch. Luckily I was not sitting on one
or I might have sprawled out and never regained consciousness when Hardee T.
Lineham spoke to me briefly, in character. True to my own pleasantly irate character I tried to politely
mask my sleepishness and get on with the show (my apologies to Hardee and anyone
else who even cared to notice).
The performances in The Successful Life of 3 are immaculate comic/animated portraits drawn from a kind of vaudeville skit’ish format. Two men and a woman appear to be indulging in, battling against, and making merry among forms of misogyny used in sketch comedy from yesteryear, and they succeed brilliantly in the hands of an ensemble who understands the demands of one dimensional characters bringing to life the demands of a three-way abusive human interaction. But the setting needs a little more vaudevillian inspired houp-la, exaggerated big prop presence, what have you, to drive the parodic point home. The Nurse’s uniform and the over-sized breasts were effective but need a little more support.
The performances in The Successful Life of 3 are immaculate comic/animated portraits drawn from a kind of vaudeville skit’ish format. Two men and a woman appear to be indulging in, battling against, and making merry among forms of misogyny used in sketch comedy from yesteryear, and they succeed brilliantly in the hands of an ensemble who understands the demands of one dimensional characters bringing to life the demands of a three-way abusive human interaction. But the setting needs a little more vaudevillian inspired houp-la, exaggerated big prop presence, what have you, to drive the parodic point home. The Nurse’s uniform and the over-sized breasts were effective but need a little more support.
A prolonged intermission runs the risk of losing some of the audience after a short play that cannot – and need not - prepare one for the intensity and depth of the second offering of the evening. But The Successful Life of 3 does have plenty of engaging moments that may have fared better had they been electrified by an immersive environment as compelling as the final part of the evening. Even just a couple of giant bloodied pinwheels and a sequined guillotine might have enlivened the atmosphere. But for the most part, the over-stuffed medical uniform, the lascivious dialogue, and the breakneck vaudeville pacing bounced along with an abjectifying agility that gave everyone a light comic taste of what was in store in the second half of the evening.
Mud
With the same brilliant triumvirate of actors Mud presented a strangely similar narrative of three way romantic mayhem but with a decidedly more gritty realistic style. The beautifully rendered set, with projections by Troy Hourie, depicts a kind of graceful faded kitchen drama about to pale and crumble. Incredible lighting changes throughout by Sandra Marcroft are perfectly attuned to scenes that lighten then darken the action at appropriate moments, ultimately restoring each narrative movement, after the end of a scene, to its former domestic non glory.
Layered direction by Jennifer H. Capraru, with monumentally mind-blowing
freezes at the end of each dramatic portion, punctuates the plot with an effective reminder
of the violent dysfunction at hand as it relentlessly implodes from start to finish.
Michelle Latimer as Mae gives a passionate and impeccable performance in a role
that could easily become an over emotive train wreck at the mercy of a less nuanced study in frustration, romantic/material longing, desperation, and a need to
escape a claustrophobic male centered equation. With a smouldering intensity Latimer
pulls us into what the program notes describe as “a female-centric love triangle…[conveying] themes of masculine rivalry, sex, and the power that come with it.”
Hardee T. Lineham as Henry portrays the love-twisted victimizer and victimized
with incredible power, diverse vocal characterization and sheer physical bravado. Jamie Robinson’s Lloyd
is a beautiful study in simple minded power mongering, dubiously sexy machismo,
some deliciously teasing décolletage by costume designer Snezana Pesic, and a
seemingly brainless approach to the people that surround him. As a sixty minute tour
de force of roller coastering proportions, Mud
speaks of primordial lust and a threateningly conjugal bliss that can never
be fully attained within the confines of emotional and material poverty where
romantic escape and needy scapegoating become the order of the day.
Theatre Asylum’s overall evening of Fornés’ brilliant work is
a breath of fresh air in a freezer bag space that promises to impress the
unimpressable, and wake us from our exhausted stupor into a world of startling "vital" * theatre that reminds us that the best productions are the ones that take harrowing
tired old stories and turn them into harrowing fresh new takes on the
interminably inhuman condition. Unlike the
unimpressive mind numbing theatre many lament in this day and age, Theatre
Asylum, in its current production of Fornés X 2, achieves a startling, engaging and powerful rendition of two works by a truly great
international playwright whose long career and artistic output is done great justice
by this impressive offering.
And once again, so sorry I napped for a second or two in act one. They do not put the ‘tired’ into tired old queen for no good reason at all… Thank you and good night…
running until June 14th at 213 Augusta Avenue, 8PM.
www.theatreasylum.com
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| Mud |
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| The Successful Life of 3 |
