Wig Out

Reviewed for Theater News Online.

Aliens with Extraordinary Skills

Photo/Carol Rosegg

Saviana Stanescu's Aliens with Extraordinary Skills walks a thin tightrope between its lighthearted characters (two clowns from Moldavia, trying to find happiness) and its serious problem (INS agents want to deport them). Tea Alagic's acrobatic direction keeps the action lively, keeping the perspective in the blissful naivety of the circus of life, and the ensemble, often juggling three balls at once, never misses a beat. This form of narrative presents a shocking sweetness, captured best by Natalia Payne's wide-eyed innocence and Jessica Pimentel's jaded but open attitude, and, with a few balloon animals and their more cartoony counterparts on stage, the play succeeds in shifting our perspective on a familiar issue (immigration) at least for a a few happy and hopeful hours.

[Read on]

The Seagull

Imported from the Royal Court with most of its cast intact, this much-raved-about production of Chekhov's play (the third major Seagull in New York within a year) doesn't even aim for Chekhov's deceptively relaxed pace or for his wise humanity: the directorial concept seems to interpret the characters' unfulfilled, cross-purposed desires as evidence that no one has the slightest genuine connection. The result drains all of the life juices out of the play and cynically turns it into a gathering of sociopaths. Nonetheless there are two spellbinders in the (highly variable) cast: Kristin Scott Thomas gives that rare brand of performance that is technically precise and yet seemingly natural at every moment. And Carey Mulligan is stunning in the famously difficult part of Nina, captivating from radiant start to wounded finish.

a message from all three of us

It's been a long time since we here at Show Showdown posted anything besides reviews of the shows we've seen. But all three of us:

1) love [title of show]
2) hate the closing notice, posted for October 12th.
3) want you to sign this petition to get the [tos] folks some attention over at Ellen, where a spot on that show could do lots of good.

Sign here

Louder

Photo/Asle Nielsen

Verdensteatret's louder wades into the torrent of the Mekong River, but when it tries to recreate that environment in an eccentrically orchestrated soundscape, all sense of meaning ends up washed away. There's nothing wrong with performance art, but this masochistically loud bit of theater is divorced of meaning; stripped down to cold wires, absent puppets, and mechanized spider legs, it has the numbing effect of watching Foley artists at play in a field of possessed megaphones. This is to take nothing away from the pure experimentation, or the unique effect and visuals: the sight of two men sawing at high-tension, near-invisible wires makes it look as if they are playing air, a Zen-like anti-Blue Man effect. But illusion is all, and the uncomfortable sensation of lying on an airport tarmac in the midst of a hurricane fails to conjure up as much resonance for me as it does for the vibrating cables or the emotionless performers.

Jason & Ben

Reviewed for Theatermania.