1409 Playbill Cafe - ARCHIVE
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January 9 - February 2, 2008
Blood, Sweat &
Fears
Reviewed by
Brad Hathaway |
Running time 1:20 - no
intermission
Three one-act examples of the French theater of horror
Click here to buy the script |
With the subtitle Grand Guignol, DC's Sick Cabaret, the Molotov
Theatre Group presents an evening of one-act plays from the repertoire of
the French genre of horror plays. The three, The
Lighthouse Keepers, Ticks - Or Doing the Deed and The Final Kiss
date to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the period when the tiny
theater near Montmartre in Paris, Le Theatre du Grand Guignol, found that
they could sell more tickets with assemblages of short horror stories
performed with copious supplies of stage blood, disfiguring makeup and
prosthetics which seemed all the more effective when the lighting was low.
But how to get people to come? Throw in a sex farce - the sexier the better.
Put the two together and make it a full evening and they could fill the less
than 300 seats in what was then Paris' smallest legitimate theater. Molotov
doesn't have 300 seats to fill at the Playbill - just 50. But they are
trying the same formula here with two distinctly horror pieces separated by
a comic piece based on physical affliction.
Storyline(s) - Three short horror stories are connected by the narration
of a scantily clad mistress of ceremonies who first introduces a tale of a
lighthouse keeper infected with rabies, then a collection of strange folk
each of whom has a tick somehow associated with the sex act, and, finally, a
horribly disfigured man and the beautiful girl who is responsible for his
condition.
The package was assembled by Richard Hand,
one of the authors of both Grand-Guinol: The French Theatre of Horror
and a new volume, London's Grand Guignol which carries the story of
the tradition of the theater of horror even further, considering its
influence on the London stage. With the recent release of the movie version
of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, it is worth pointing out that the
basis for that horror-musical was Christopher Bond's "Grand-Guignol" version
of the legend of "The Demon Barber of Fleet Street." The interest generated
by the film and the curiosity of Sondheim fans in general may well give
Molotov a spur in ticket sales as people simply want to know what this is
all about. His book (with co-author Michael Wilson) includes the scripts of
ten short horror pieces of the time, including the three performed in this
"sick cabaret."
By far the most absorbing and convincing -
and, therefore, horrifying - of the three is the opener, a tale of two
lighthouse keepers stranded in a storm with no possibility of contact with
the outside world as one, played with complete abandon by Robert Rector,
discovers that he's infected with rabies. William Aitken doesn't attempt to
match Rector's over-the-top panic. Instead, he provides a solid connection
to reality which sets Rector's histrionics in stark relief. After a
larger-cast middle section featuring Eric Humphries in drag, the final
playlet features Bryant Sullivan attempting to emote through the monster
make up devised by Alex Zavistovich and Jen Tonon. All of this is tied
together by Anne Nottage who is somewhat subdued as the narrator when
compared with some who have taken the "emcee" role in that other Cabaret
to its outer limits.
When you enter the tiny theater in the back
of the 1409 Playbill Cafe, take note of the atmospheric music which seems to
permeate the establishment with a distinctly continental feel appropriate to
the turn of the last century. Sound designer Ben Russo has come up with some
recorded symphonic music of Czechoslovakian origin that bridges the gap
between live theatre and early horror movie sound tracks. The effect is
superb. Then the lights go down and the transition to a small "theater of
horror" seems complete.
Written by Paul Autier, Paul Cloquemin, Rene
Berton and Marice Level. Translated with additional material by Richard
Hand. Directed by Lucas Maloney. Fight choreography by Casey Kaleba. Design:
Leslie Cohen and Tara Garwood (costumes and properties) Alex Zavistovich and
Jen Tonon (special effects and makeup) Lucas Maloney (lights) Ben Russo
(sound) Nancy Garwood (photography) Tori LaChapelle (stage manager). Cast:
William Aitken, Colby Codding, Leslie Sarah Cohen, Tara Garwood, Eric
Humphries, Anne Nottage, Robert Rector, Bryant Sullivan.
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October 13 - 30, 2005
Poe 2000 |
Reviewed October 13
Running time 1:50 - one intermission
Stories and poems from Poe given theatrical treatments on a small stage
Price range $12 - $15 |
Tobin Atkinson who wrote, directed and appeared in Meat and Potatoes Theatre
Company's Infantry Monologues
in this same space,
has adapted a number of Edgar Allen Poe stories and poems, putting them into
twentieth century periods. The show exudes the sort of delighted enthusiasm
on the part of the three cast members on stage that marks many a collegiate
production, almost as if the fun they are having is secondary to the
enjoyment of the audience. However, there is plenty to engage the attention
of and intrigue the small audience in the back room at 1409 in a production
that lasts just about as long as it can maintain interest, and then wraps it
up without further ado.
Storyline: Ten vignettes based on poems (The Raven, Annabel Lee)
stories (The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum) and writings
on criticism by Baltimore's darkest writer, each given a distinctly 20th
century setting or feel.
Opening
with The Raven, performed under the sort of "Black Light" you would
find in the back of a Spencer's Gift shop, with narrator's eyes in his dark
ski mask catching the light and the Raven himself being a puppet, sets the
tone for the evening. This won't be an overly dry examination of great
literature, but it won't be a trashing of masterworks either.
Atkinson's reading of the text is, while not exactly subtle, quite
intelligent and reveals a serious consideration of the poet's intentions.
Just to make sure that the seriousness of Poe's art is recognized, the cast
members take turns wearing a sign reading "Poe" while they deliver some of
his comments on the art of criticism.
That cast, in addition to Atkinson, includes
Katie Taylor-Rollins, who, among other indignities, gets walled up in an
alcove, and Jeffrey A. Wisniewski, who provides on-stage (or visible but
supposedly off-stage) sound effects for a vignette as well as performing
more traditional actor's duties. Each shares in the sense of enthusiasm
generated by the show.
Twentieth century references abound even if
all the source material comes from pre-1849, the year of Poe's dramatic
demise. The short story The Cast of Montillado is set at the Cannes
Film Festival of 1993. I suppose the temptation to set the poem The Bells
to a rap beat was irresistible - and it works because it is a brief
digression rather than a major portion of the show. The cast swaying and
stomping to "Keeping time, time, time / In a sort of Runic rhyme / To the
tintinnabulation that so musically wells / From the bells, bells, bells,
bells, bells, bells, bells" is a brief respite between the dark Soviet-toned
version of "The Purloined Letter" and the even darker "The Pit and the
Pendulum" which caps off the short evening.
Adapted from the writings of Edgar Alan Poe
and directed by Tobin Atkinson. Design: Jamie Hill (costumes) Robert Ross
(lights) John Coulter (music) Debra Duncan (photography) Enid Atkinson
(sound, stage manager). Cast: Tobin Atkinson, Katie Taylor-Rollins, Jeffrey
A. Wisniewski. |
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July 7 - 24, 2005
Infantry
Monologues |
Reviewed July 9
Running time 2:00 - one intermission
Price range: $12 - $15
The world premiere of three one-act/one-performer pieces |
The brand new "Meat and Potato Theatre Company" gets off to an incredibly
strong start with the first of the three short solo pieces by its founder,
actor/playwright/director Tobin Atkinson. "Lead with your strength" is a
time-honored dictum but it does place a great burden on what comes
afterwards. Here the first one-act/one-actor piece is so strong it sets up
expectations for the second and third which aren't quite fulfilled. Still,
each is an interesting piece on its own and the cumulative effect is
satisfying, in part due to the polished performances by the three member
cast.
Storyline: Three separate solo performance
pieces include 1) The interrogation of a bloody man who may have done
something horrible but who builds a case for being released to do again what
is necessary for some unspecified security reason. 2) The pledge by a
battlefield medic to do what it takes to make sure the rape of her colleague
isn't covered up. 3) The testimony of the target of an inquiry under terms
of extraordinary powers assumed by the government in the wake of perceived
extraordinary dangers.
The monologues are stand-alone pieces but
Atkinson carries a single thread of relevance to today's post 9/11 world
seen by some as security conscious and others as security obsessed. His
texts and his direction are clearly intended to sound warnings, giving
audiences something to mull over as they struggle to make sense out of
material that leaves a great deal unanswered. As a playwright, he
provides words that are sharp and capable of calling up specific pictures of
events imagined or actual. However, his three characters share a common
vocabulary without distinctive characteristics. It seems, therefore, that
all three are speaking in the voice of the author.
Atkinson is the performer in the first
monologue and it is partially the intensity of his performance that makes
that the most impressive of the three. He sits at a table but his eye
contact with his unseen interrogator actually creates a second presence,
spreading out the geography of the space on the tiny stage of the back room
of Playbill.
Jenny Crooks handles monologue #2 with
something of a reverse approach to Atkinson's stationary performance. She
moves about the space freely, focusing her delivery on the unseen "occupant"
of the cot in a hospital tent in the desert battle field. Parker Dixon, on
the other hand, is confined to a single center-stage chair under a tightly
focused light facing the audience as he presents his testimony. Both Crooks
and Dixon have material that make points and will probably stimulate
post-show conversations, but neither manages the intensity of Atkinson's
opening.
Written and directed by Tobin Atkinson.
Design: Megan Mai Swanson (costumes) Robert Ross (lights) Michael E. Moon
(sound) Debra Duncan (photography) Jenny Byrd (stage manager). Cast: Tobin
Atkinson, Jenny Crooks, Parker Dixon. |
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