1001: Collaboraction, 8/14/11

1001: Review for Stage & Cinema

Pornography: Steep Theatre, 8/11/11

Pornography: Review for Stage & Cinema

Cosmic Prom: Vortex Immersion Dome, 8/19/11

Senior prom is not likely to be a favorite memory for most hipsters. After all, prom represents the pinnacle of conformity to high school culture. The school year builds up to this overblown event, supposedly the best night of your young life. If your high school prom was the best night of your life … I am sorry for you. But when musician Jesse Nolan called the recent Cosmic Prom the best night of his life so far, I dug it.

On Friday, August 19, Nolan and friends time warped back to high school and restaged the prom as a collaborative artistic celebration. With a playful sci-fi twist, Cosmic Prom offered an immersive, interdisciplinary party that united an exciting array of young artists in downtown LA.  The inaugural prom committee included songwriter/producer Jesse Nolan, DJ Ana Calderon, actress Tessa Thompson, performance/video artist D’Arcy French-Myerson, and artist/filmmaker Torie Zalben, in partnership with Vortex Immersion Media and c3: createLAB.

Who needs streamers when interactive visual media can set the scene? Prom guests, often bedecked in fabulously gaudy dresses and glittering astral attire, played with shadows and light in art exhibits throughout the studio. Photographer Tiffany Roohani captured memories in an impressively detailed space ship photo booth crafted by Nathan Owen, complete with ray guns and astronaut helmet props. (No boring, awkward prom poses allowed!) A troupe of performance artists in spacesuits wound about the Digital Dome Studio throughout the evening, interacting with guests and molding tin foil sculptures.

The center of this downtown studio space is the futuristic Vortex Dome, where VJs projected 360 degrees of psychedelic images – from cartoons to cosmic lights – to accompany a thrilling array of music throughout the evening. DJs Mor Elian and Noah Gershman (Bruno Mars) spun a playful selection of retro dance hits between live performances by local bands. The Morose Project, Lemon Sun, and Caught a Ghost each brought a rich palette of sounds and influences to the stage. Lemon Sun even pulled up the exceptional “tap dancing percussionist” Lauren Brown to fill out their rhythm section in a delightfully unexpected collaboration.

A full crowd had gathered by the time Caught a Ghost took the stage after midnight. This fresh collaboration between frontman Jesse Nolan, drummer Stephen Edelstein, and Tessa Thompson has an undeniably appropriate name; Caught a Ghost’s kaleidoscopic sound cuts across genres, capturing spectral connections in their richly layered soundscape. Their catchy “Sleeping At Night” overlays a contemporary electronica beat with Nolan’s grounded vocals, soulful backup harmonies, and countermelodies from an old school horn section.  The smooth R&B blend of Nolan’s and Thompson’s voices in “No Sugar in My Coffee” had the audience singing, swaying, and holding their hands up high as the night drew to a close.

Cosmic Prom did culminate in the selection of a prom king and queen – but this was no high school popularity contest. The most innovative costumes and creative personalities were rewarded with a crown and a slow dance. But really, the entire party had already been rewarded by the fearless artistry and bold cross-disciplinary collaboration of Cosmic Prom’s organizers.  Here’s hoping this interactive, immersive event becomes an annual affair.

Heavier than … Cyclops: A Rock Opera?

I caught the last performance of Steve Yockey’s Heavier than … at Boston Court today. While production values were high, the script and lead performances were disappointing. Truth be told, I couldn’t stop drawing comparisons to the more innovative Psittacus Productions’ Cyclops: A Rock Opera throughout the show. Intertextual connections are one of the joys of theatergoing, so in a playful postmodern spirit, I offer a mashup of thoughts on sexuality in these reimagined Greek myths.

Steve Yockey’s world premiere play Heavier than … is “a strange account of Asterius in the labyrinth.” This “strangeness” derives not only from the fact that the minotaur is now the central character, but because Asterius is likely gay. If this buff minotaur is not gay, then he is certainly sexually ambiguous; the effiminate Icarus constantly flies into the labryinth and flirts with the lonely horned creature, who has a deep Freudian attachment to his mother.

What are the potential implications of portraying this mythological creature as gay? Most obviously, it registers homosexuality as unnatural and even monstrous. The minotaur Asterius is the bastard child of a white bull and King Minos’s queen, Pasiphae. Thus the minotaur is a strange, hybrid creature – part beast and part man. This “monstrosity” has several consequences. Perceived as a threat to men, the monster is isolated, estranged, exiled. King Minos confines Asterius in a labryinth after the creature lashes out in a violent rage at age 3, killing several men. Now every 7 years, Minos sends men to try to kill the minotaur – unless Asterius can kill the men first.

Of course by telling the tale from the minotaur’s point of view, Asterius becomes a sympathetic figure; it is clear to the audience that Asterius has been unfairly deemed a monster. It is nonetheless fated that Asterius will die: there is no possible happy ending for this creature. In a clever bit of staging by director Abigail Deser, the chorus of fates come to the end of Asterius’ (literal) rope at the play’s end. Although his fate is never depicted, the ellipsis of the play’s title points to the inevitable: we know that the minotaur will eventually be killed by the Athenian hero Theseus. Heterosexuality will stamp out homosexuality: Ariadne helps her lover navigate the maze to kill her own brother.

Similarly, Psittacus Productions’ Cyclops: A Rock Opera is a reimagining of Odysseus’ encounter with the one-eyed Polyphemus. (I have previously written about it here … and here … and here … and here … with a little overture here.) Based on Euripides’ satyr play, this carnivalesque inversion of a familiar Greek myth centers on the Cyclops – a sexually ambiguous figure in this adaptation. Polyphemus is a gender-bending glam rock star, drawing on cultural referents ranging from wildly excessive bel canto opera to Rocky Horror‘s Frank ‘n’ Furter. Polyphemus may have burned with desire for the sea nymph Galatea, but he drives into “Sodomy” with equal panache.

What are the implications of portraying this mythological creature as sexually ambiguous – especially with the creature’s blinding following close on the feet of a song called “Sodomy”? Again, it registers homosexuality as unnatural and monstrous. The Cyclops is not only a strange, hybrid creature – part god and part man – but he literally consumes men, gobbling up Odysseus’ crew. He is another isolated, estranged figure with only his satyr slaves to keep him company. Over the course of the show, the Cyclops becomes a sympathetic character. But he must suffer for his monstrosity: by all means, he must be blinded. That is how the story goes. Right?

What would it mean to alter the outcome of a familiar story? Neither of Heavier than … nor Cyclops changes their sympathetic monster’s fate. But they each bend the stories to varying degrees: and it is in the degree of stylistic and performative bending that Cyclops comes out as a much more successful reiminagining.

Heavier than … is stylistically nonrealist, with a Greek chorus of three fates watching over Asterius (Ashanti Brown, Teya Patt, and Katie Locke O’Brien). Their voices mix and mingle in a rich polyphonic array, and their heightened physical vocabulary threads the rope of Asterius’ life to its fated end. The fates’ ensemble interplay is subtle and stunning. Unfortunately, there is no palpable connection among the remaining characters. Asterius (Nick Ballard) broods and occasionally bursts into an angry growl. Blonde and beautiful Icarus (Casey Kringlen) never mines deeper than his pretty boy surface. Pasiphae (the wonderfully grounded Jill Van Velzer) and moody teen Ariadne (Laura Howard) seem to inhabit entirely different theatrical worlds. Amidst such stylistic dissonance, the audience never reaches beyond the surface level of sympathy for Asterius — or for Icarus, who meets his own tragic death from flying too close to the sun. These (gay) figures are tragic, but ultimately impotent at the show’s conclusion.

Not the Cyclops. From his grand entrance in “Bloodier Than the Cherry,” Polyphemus (Jayson Landon Marcus) commands the stage; the satyrs, maenads, and even Odysseus are forced into his service as band members and backup singers. The Cyclops’ catchy music and fully embodied presence actively work to overturn preconceptions of his “monstrous” persona — and even call into question Odysseus’ own heroism in the process. As I wrote in my original review, Odysseus is arguably the most complicated role in the show. This epic hero, given a nuanced performance by Chas LiBretto, is forced to a consideration of his own masculinity. Odysseus may wield a sword … but Polyphemus wields a guitar. The Cyclops’ riveting musical presence arguably exceeds his blinding. The audience leaves the glam rock opera singing the sympathetic “I’m a Cyclops” anthem with a deep ambivalence about Odysseus’ act of violence.

I enjoyed Heavier than … today, if only because it was such an interesting counterpoint to my deep and ongoing consideration of Cyclops: A Rock Opera. Both pieces stem from Greek mythology into critical contemporary issues of sexuality and gender roles, of violence and estrangement. But both make me wonder: at what point is it time to not only bend the myths, but break them? Can we defy the fates?

(Psittacus Productions is currently rehearsing to rock the NY Musical Theatre Festival this fall. Support their road to NYMF at http://www.indiegogo.com/CYCLOPS-A-Rock-Opera.)

The Adventures of Pinocchio: Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, 8/10/11

The Adventures of Pinocchio: Review for Stage & Cinema

Middletown: Steppenwolf, 8/11/11

Middletown: Review for Stage & Cinema

The Original Grease: American Theater Company, 8/14/11

The Original Grease: Review for Stage & Cinema

The Last Act of Lilka Kadison: Lookingglass Theatre, 8/10/11

The Last Act of Lilka Kadison: Review for Stage & Cinema

This: Kirk Douglas Theatre, 8/7/11

This: Review for EDGE Los Angeles

Gospel According to First Squad: Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble, 8/4/11

Sometimes, theater criticism becomes a chore. On several of our recent theater dates, Tony Frankel and I have lamented that writing a review of a mediocre show seems hardly worth our (unpaid) time and effort. Do our reviews matter? Who is reading? Does our writing disappear into the blogosphere as soon as it is posted, or does it contribute to an ongoing dialogue and critical conversation as we hope?

Then something comes along like Gospel According to First Squad, currently running at Santa Monica’s Powerhouse Theatre. I was not assigned to review this show; I simply attended with an Ovation Voter friend on Thursday evening. But I felt compelled to write about it afterwards. Shows like Gospel According to First Squad remind me why I started reviewing LA theater in the first place. Some shows demand to be seen and demand to be discussed. Even if no one else reads my review, writing becomes a necessary process of sorting through my own thoughts on a provocative new play. Several days later, I am still processing Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble’s gripping production of Gospel According to First Squad.

Over the past five years, LATE has crafted three plays with artistic director / playwright Tom Burmester concerning the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The third of The War Cycle trilogy, Gospel According to First Squad follows a unit based at Command Outpost Michigan at the mouth of Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley. The action is framed in flashbacks as each American soldier is interviewed on a deadly clash that erupts just before the squad’s redeployment to the US. The precise details of this clash remain ambiguous – and for good reason. This is a play questioning the existence of Absolute Truth.

The violence of this war is not simply physical; Gospel According to First Squad is more broadly interested in the violence of ideology. With dynamic direction by Burmester and Danika Sudik, the racism and sexism generated by military life shocks even as it (sometimes disturbingly) entertains throughout the play. The ensemble feeds off one another with a fierce herd mentality – for instance encouraging the innocent Michael Hanson as PFC Wright to get over his unfaithful wife with a deep and righteous chant, “Fuck that bitch!” AJ Meijer’s gentle and sympathetic Muhammad, the squad’s Afghani translator, endures excruciating verbal and physical denigration; he suffers for an unfortunate American stereotype of “his people” and the extremist faction of his Muslim faith.

Indeed, religion is the point of the most contentious ideological violence in Gospel. Absolute Truth hinders one from accepting others diverse experiences and beliefs – and fierce defense of one Way over another often explodes in physical violence. Sgt. Taylor’s tight-knit squad begins to fracture when a self-righteous evangelical Christian named Gabriel (the precise and pointed Trevor Algatt) joins, armed with Pashto-language Bibles to distribute to the Afghanis. Is this war a modern-day religious crusade? What differentiates Gabriel’s mission from that of a Muslim jihadist? In many ways, Gospel is a perfect companion piece to The Word Begins, which just closed at Rogue Machine. Both pose the challenging question: How has “God” become a force of fragmentation and violence, rather than one of unification and unconditional love?

Muhammad’s role as an interpreter brings force to human acts of translation and interpretation in religion; he represents a refreshing diversity of Muslim faith and experience, beyond the violent extremist perspectives that dominate media representation. Disappointingly, the multiple Christian characters are not as well rounded as this single Muslim figure in Gospel; by the end, all the play’s Christian characters seem to represent the same right-wing faction. This is not my Christianity, nor is it that of many of my friends.

Still, Gospel According to First Squad compellingly seeks for some sort of ethical, humanist Truth to guide our actions. This moral compass weighs forcefully on our common humanity and our living bodies, poised precariously on the edge of death. However stern in public, a nagging conscious comes to bear on a bent and broken Sgt. Taylor in his private moments. As he cradles a uniformed teddy bear that once belonged to his daughter, Jonathan Redding brings brilliant emotional force to the cracks beneath the veneer of self-righteous American military authority.

Perhaps the greatest testament to Los Angeles Theater Ensemble is that Gospel According to First Squad paves the way for a consideration of the political issues at stake, more than the elements of the theatrical performance itself. Burmester’s script feels a little stylistically disjunct from Act I to Act II, but the roaring ideological debates, crisp direction, and stellar ensemble performances are continually compelling. One of the most challenging and important new works currently running in Los Angeles, Gospel According to First Squad is worth the time – and even more worth the post-show thought and discussion.