The Essentialisn’t

Roughly a third of the way through The Essentialisn't (great title), writer-director-performer Elisa Davis quotes Wikipedia:

“Essentialism is the view that every entity has a set of attributes that are necessary to its identity and function."

To a large extent essentialism is a more formal way of saying stereotyping. While both are based on shallow, inaccurate ideas, both are frequently embraced (not always consciously) by many people. Many, many people. The practical result of essentialism is that someone may feel that they know a person who they have never met, assuming that the person indeed possesses those preconceived attributes. Essentialism is a foundation of racism, sexism, and homophobia, and it also informs the thinking of many (many, many) good-hearted, non-hateful people. Like me, and very possibly you.

Photo: Daniel J. Vasquez

Davis pairs her dissection and dismissal of essentialism with a simple, powerful question, "Can you be Black and not perform?" Her answer is also simple and powerful: "No."

And there is a third aspect to the show: Black women's hair. It's discussed and used as costumes, and its images run through the show. 

Photo: Daniel J. Vasquez

This might suggest that The Essentialisn't is dry or preachy, but it is anything but. Davis has written a series of songs and performance sketches (for want of a better term), some straightforward, some allusive, some heartbreaking, many funny. From bobbing in a large glass box of water, roughly the size of a standalone shower; to fighting the stereotype that all black women can sing by dissecting/destroying "And I am telling you, I'm not going"; to providing an insight of what freedom might mean to someone long enslaved; to a three-way tug of war over a long braid of hair, Davis offers emotions and humor and humanity, and challenges our view of the world--and her own.

Davis's electronic soul score is effective and often beautiful, as is her voice. Her performance skills are excellent. Her bravery underlies all she does, as she takes us on an often painful journey.

The physical presentation is evocative and engaging: soundscape and sound design by Rucyl Mills, lighting design by Cha See, video design by Skye Mahaffie, and scenic and costume consultation by Peter Born.

Photo: Daniel J. Vasquez

There is much to admire here--in fact, I suspect that pretty much everything here is worth admiring. But here's the catch: the speed of the presentation and the quality of the sound design made much of the show unintelligible. I needed to read the script afterward to totally get what I had seen.

In general I think suggestions to artists from outsiders are tacky, so I instead have a request for Davis et al: would you consider adding words to the projections? Not closed captioning per se, but, rather, enough words to clarify what is being said. It would help the audience follow what is going on, and, really, we don't want to miss anything.

Wendy Caster

Twelfth Night, or What You Will

It's easier to enjoy Twelfth Night, or What You Will, the inaugural production at the newly redone Delacorte, if you accept that it's not exactly Twelfth Night. The show is lively, funny, a fabulous night at the theatre, but it mostly lacks emotional resonance and meaning. Twelfth Night Lite, if you will.

I have two opposing, completely honest reviews. Review one is how I felt sitting in the theatre. I was happy, laughing, loving the cool faux-autumn air, and feeling so grateful to watch such a starry cast. (Peter Dinklage! Sandra Oh! Daphne Rubin-Vega! Jesse Tyler Ferguson! Et cetera!) Review two is how I felt when I was telling my sister about the show the next day. Although I said a lot of positive things, she said, "I feel a but coming on." And the but was this: on reflection, the production felt like nothing. It's definitely a problem when the curtain call is one of the best parts of the show.

[spoiler]

The one moment that lands as fully developed and true-to-the-play is the reunion of the twins, each of whom thought the other was dead. Played by actual siblings Lupita Nyong'o and Junior Nyong'o, the twins are dressed and coifed identically, underlining their strong resemblance. They're both fine actors, and the scene would have worked with less resemblance, but the similarity adds an extra level of truth. 

What really makes this scene so strong, however, is that the reunion is spoken entirely in Swahili. They're not just finding each other; they're finding themselves, their language, their home. It is deeply moving, particularly in the context of the shallowness of the rest of the production. 

[end of spoiler]

It feels churlish to complain about a solid, star-filled, laugh-filled evening at the Delacorte. I truly had fun. But I was hoping to see Twelfth Night, not Twelfth Night Lite.

Wendy Caster

The Third Gilmore Girl: A Memoir (book review)

Kelly Bishop writing a memoir--doesn't that sound exciting? The stories she must have! The gossip! The attitude!

Nah. The Third Gilmore Girl is a short, polite, mildly interesting  book. She covers A Chorus Line and The Gilmore Girls fairly comprehensively, but that's really all she focuses on workwise. She spends barely a page on Bunheads! Many gigs go by with barely a mention.

Here are my takeaways: More of A Chorus Line is based on Bishop's life than I realized. She loved being on The Gilmore Girls and was terribly sad when Edward Herrman died. She's very close with Priscilla Lopez. Throughout her life she has had a fiery desire to work, and she only wants money she earns herself. Her husband was ill for much of their marriage and they were often separated due to her work, but they were very happy together. 

I love autobiographies that provide a 3D sense of the writer. I love feeling that you've almost hung out together. (See, for example, Chita Rivera's autobiography.) To the teeny tiny extent that The Third Girlmore Girl gives a sense of hanging out with Bishop, it is clear that she'd rather be somewhere else.

Wendy Caster

MISS MAY DOES NOT EXIST: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood’s Hidden Genius (book review)

While the subtitle of this book calls Elaine May "Hollywood's Hidden Genius," it also gives full attention to May's theatrical career, which has included writing, acting, and directing.

May first came to prominence doing comedy evenings with Mike Nichols. They practiced a form of comedy that was satirical, pointed, compassionate, and ground-breaking. They achieved a great deal of acclaim and made connections that would help them through their careers for the next many decades. 

Author Carrie Courogen discusses May's work in great detail and she shares fascinating stories and quotations from existing interviews. May herself clearly had nothing to do with the book, which is in keeping with her lifelong desire to maintain extremely private privacy.

Courogen deals with the absence of May's point of view by guessing what it might be. Too many sentences begin with "Perhaps" and similar conditionals. Did May quit job A because she didn't like her boss or didn't feel well or thought the work wasn't good enough or or or? Courogen doesn't know the answers, but that doesn't stop her from guessing.

Courogen also make the sort of mistakes that can make one wonder how accurate any of the book is. For example, she writes

What she's actually referring to is not a 50-point word but a 50-point bonus, which you get for using all seven of your tiles in a move. This is not only not "near-impossible," it is actually pretty common. Many Scrabble players, not only the best of the best, get this bonus regularly. Tournament players get these bonuses multiple times a game.

This mistake is not a huge deal in and of itself, but it is only one of many. So how careful and accurate is Courogen with May's life?

I ended up finding this book worth reading/skimming, but with a big ole' grain of salt.

Wendy Caster

Tony Predictions: How'd We Do?

It could have been worse. It could have been better. Sandra got a very respectable 18 correct. Liz and I tied with 13. It was a fun Tonys ceremony. Happy New Season!

(BTW, the √s are supposed to be checkmarks. Not sure what Blogger did to them.)

	Liz	Sandra	Wendy
New Musical: Maybe Happy Ending (MHE)	√	√	√
New Play: Purpose	Oh, Mary!	Oh, Mary!	John Proctor is the Villain
Lead Actress, Musical: Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Blvd	√	√	Audra
Lead Actor, Darren Criss, MHE	√	√	√
Lead Actress, Play: Sarah Snook, Dorian Gray	√	√	LaTanya Richard-son Jackson
Lead Actor, Play: Cole Escola, Oh, Mary!	√	√	√
Featured Actor, Play: Francis Jue, Yellow Face	Conrad Rica-mora	√	√
Featured Actor, Musical: Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat	√	Danny Burstein	Danny Burstein
Featured Actress, Play: Kara Young, Purpose	Marjan Neshat	Jessica Hecht	Jessica Hecht
Featured Actress, Musical: Natalie Venetia Belcon, Buena Vista Social Club (BVSC)	Joy Woods	Justina Machado	Justina Machado
Revival, Musical: Sunset Blvd	Gypsy	√	√
Revival, Play: Eureka Day	Yellow Face	Romeo + Juliet	√
Direction, Play: Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary!	Kip Williams	√	√
Direction, Musical: Michael Arden, MHE	√	Jamie Lloyd	√
Choreography: Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, BVSC	Smash	√	√
Book: Will Aronson and Hue Park, MHE	Dead Outlaw	Dead Outlaw	Operation Mince-meat
Score: Will Aronson and Hue Park, MHE	√	√	√
Scenic Design, Play: Miriam Buether and 59, Stranger Things	√	√	Hills of Calif-ornia
Scenic Design, Musical: Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, MHE	√	√	√
Costume Design, a Play: Marg Horwell, Dorian Gray	Oh, Mary!	√	Oh, Mary!
Costume Design, Musical: Paul Tazewell, Death Becomes Her	√	√	√
Lighting Design, Play: Jon Clark, Stranger Things	Dorian Gray	√	Dorian Gray
Lighting Design, Musical: Jack Knowles, Sunset Blvd	√	√	√
Sound Design, Musical: Jonathan Deans, BVSC	MHE	√	Floyd Collins
Sound Design, Play: Paul Arditti, Stranger Things	√	√	Good Night, and Good Luck
Orchestrations: Margo Paguia, BVSC	Floyd Collins	Floyd Collins	Just in Time

The Imaginary Invalid

In the late 1970s, The Public Theater presented the Yale Rep production of Sganarelle: An Evening of Molière Farces. It was a wonderful evening. One performer was particularly good: Mark Linn Baker. His fluidity with farce, both verbal and physical, was astonishing, and he was incredibly likeable. I knew that he would "go places." Well, go places he did: dozens and dozens of shows, movies, and TV shows, in a full, impressive career. And now he's again in a Molière farce. And, again, still, his fluidity with farce, both verbal and physical, is astonishing, and he is incredibly likeable.

The Imaginary Invalid is an old warhorse of farce, elegantly structured yet full of very inelegant characters and dialogue. Its main two topics are, arguably, love and enemas. The basic story is that Argan, a wealthy hypochondriac, has remarried, and his new wife wants him to disinherit his daughter. The daughter is in love with a sweet, vacuous, good-looking guy. However, her father wants her to marry a doctor, to save on his medical bills. Various charlatans wander in and out with terrible medical advice. Argan's wry maid attempts to add some sanity to the goings-on, but often utilizes less-than-sane (and quite funny) methods. 

The solid Red Bull production currently at the New World Stages features a funny, effective adaptation by Jeffrey Hatcher, which largely follows Molière's play, but slimmed down and with some contemporary language. The direction by Jesse Berger is generally good, but at the performance I saw, certain moments hadn't gelled yet. A weakness is the ostensibly madcap section of people running around and slamming doors; it lacks clarity of why they're running around and who's after who, which actually does matter, even (especially?) in a farce.

Sarah Stiles, Mark Linn-Baker
Photo: Carol Rosegg

The cast is great. As Argan, Mark Linn-Baker (he added the hyphen after some years as Mark Linn Baker) is fabulously silly while completely committing to his character's wants and needs, as absurd as they mostly are. Sarah Stiles, as the cheeky maid, relishes playing her character's sardonic-ness as much as the character relishes being sardonic. Emilie Kouatchou gives a nicely balanced performance as a young woman both self-indulgently emotional and sincerely in love. Russell Daniels manages to make his ludicrous character actually kinda likeable. The other cast members, all also really good, include Arnie Burton, Manoel Felciano, Emily Swallow, and John Yi.

I am so very grateful that Red Bull exists. It's a tough world for theatre these days--even tougher than usual--and we've lost too many theatre companies. Red Bull's contribution is unique--and excellent. Long may it thrive!

Wendy Caster