|
The range in quality in this set of three one-act plays is astonishingly
wide. It goes from quite good to, well, quite not. Each piece is a
stand-alone effort, with three different directors tackling three very
different plays from very different times. The decline in quality from the
earliest play to the latest is not, one hopes, a reflection of what has
happened to theater in general over the past century. Two are previously
published and produced plays and one is a world premiere of a play that
needs significant editing prior to any future publication or production.
Storylines: Trifles (1916) reveals the details behind the death of a
man we never see through the discussions of the investigators and of the
neighbors who they question. Springtime (1986) takes a pair of lovers
through cycles of jealousy which kills their relationship and Citizen
Patrol (2003) is a diatribe against post-9/11 overreaction delivered
with one-sided single-mindedness.
In
Trifles, author Susan Glaspell uses the powers of observation of the
police and just plain folk to create a story in the audience’s mind without
ever actually showing it. Instead, the things in one room and the memories
of the witnesses yield information which you put together in your head to
create a picture of what must have gone on in the neighboring room where the
man’s corps has been found. It is sort of an early “CSI: Crime Scene
Investigation” without the special effects. Here it is nicely performed by a
cast of mixed abilities. William Aitken and Amy Flanagan are quite natural
and effective as the neighboring couple who reported the death and Jennifer
L. Rigway adds a nice touch of prairie reserve but Ric Andersen is wooden
and artificial as the investigating attorney.
Musefire begins to introduce an element of multi-media presentation into the
evening with Springtime. The set of the lovers’ bedroom is dominated
by a large video screen on which is shown a picture of an idyllic rural
scene in lush greens which gradually turns to black and white as the lovers’
relationship deteriorates. These particular lovers are Adrienne Nelson as
Greta, ill with some sort of condition, and Tuyet Thi Pham as her lesbian
partner, Rainbow, who prostitutes herself to get money for medicine. As the
jealousy mixes with guilt, the picture saturates into a blur. Another medium
built into the event is the music of a cabaret-type singer (E. Cassandra
Hoye) and bass player Brandy Brewer.
The
final play of the evening, Washington-area writer Merideth M. Taylor’s
Citizen Patrol, suffers both from a script that is unrelentingly obvious
and single-minded and performances that seem to accent the amateurish. It
begins as a situation comedy-like scene as one couple try to recruit their
neighbors into a neighborhood watch styled anti-terrorism group which would
identify and even use a citizen’s arrest on anyone who is “suspicious,” “not
like us” and “one of them.” Theater has always been an accepted form of
expression of political views but it becomes wearying when it takes a heavy
hand to a single viewpoint and here there is only one view: modern America
is violating every value it is supposed to hold in its pursuit of security
and economic progress. The play switches methods but not position half way
through to attempt to become a sort of confrontation theater as the
multi-media focuses on the audience and the action is turned into a kind of
terrorist/hostage shtick. J. Matthew Miller’s effort to energize the event
as the couple’s son who threatens to blow the entire theater up gives a
brief spark to the play, but soon it sinks in the lack of readiness of the
cast to deal with any audience response. By that time, the downward slope of
the evening has hit bottom.
Written by Susan
Glaspell, Maria Irene Fornes, Merideth M. Taylor. Directed by Jamie Roberts,
Michelle T. Hall and A. Lorraine Robinson. Design: Kiersten E. Moore (set)
LeVonne Lindsay (costumes) Allen Grimm (lights) Erik Trester (sound and
multi-media) Jody Taylor Barasch (stage manager). Cast: William Aitken, Rick
Andersen, Ramtin Arablouei, Brandy Brewer, MaConnia Chesser, Tom Cutler,
Leslie Fields, Amy Flanagan, M.E. Cassandra Hoye, Derrick Lampley, J
Matthew Miller, Gale Munroe, Adrienne Nelson, Tuyet Thi Pham, Sean Pier,
Jennifer L. Ridgway. |
