Review: The fall of the ‘Geist’

It was partly a busy schedule, which held me back from writing the review of ‘Geist’ right after I saw it in the middle of September. But partly it was the great frustration caused by this production by Horizon Theatre Rep. It always upsets me when all of the elements I see in the press release promise something truly unique and potentially great but it comes out a huge mess where the parts don’t come together. That was the case with ‘Geist’, conceived, directed and stared by Rafael De Mussa, the artistic director of the Horizon Theatre Rep.

photo by Richard Termine

‘Geist’ consists of five plays: “Sancta Susanna” (1911) by August Stramm, “The Guardian of the Tomb” (1916) by Franz Kafka, “The Transfiguration. 3^rd station” (1919) by Ernst Toller, “Ithaka” (1914) by Gottfried Benn, and “Crucifixion” (1920) by Lothar Schreyer. De Mussa first started working on four of them in two workshop productions that launched Horizon Theatre Rep in 2001. In September 2014, five of these plays came together in a show called “Culture Shock 1911-1922”, which ran in the Access Theater. So it’s clear that these plays haunt Mr. De Mussa as he continues working on the show, organizing and reorganizing the material. And I can see why.

Put together, these five expressionistic plays, originally written in German, carry the “zeitgeist” of the beginning of the twentieth century in Western Europe, with its anxieties about the death of God and rapid development of deadly war science. ‘Geist’ is trying to recreate the dark, nihilistic and nightmarish atmosphere of the time by transferring the audience to the bombed out church where four solders (Rafael De Mussa, Cory Asinofsky, Sean M. Bell, and Adam A. Keller) and a nurse (Angela Dahl) read from the books laying in stacks around them. They reenact the five plays mentioned earlier without letting the books out of their hands leaving the audience suspended between the text and the physical space.

Busy set design resembles the back of an abandoned antique shop and consists of stacks of books, random pieces of furniture, paintings, and sculptures partly wrapped. Projections on a screen in the middle of the stage feature more artwork, documentary WWI footage, and stock video of clouds, sunrays and flowers. The intense sound and video design by Aristides Li is at times too literal and obnoxious which hurts the production greatly. You want to be left alone in the room with these moody and complicated expressionistic texts and yet you are being bombarded with more and more visual elements, which you simply can’t process. Some people snored while others left, which is especially noticeable in the chamber of the 4th Street Theater. I can only imagine how distracting it was for the actors, who, at times, seem completely lost and mechanical.

‘Geist’ runs September 15 - October 2, Wednesday-Saturday at 8:30PM and Sunday at 3:30PM. The 4th Street Theater is located at 83 East 4th Street between Bowery & 2nd Ave. Tickets are $18, available at 212-868-4444 or www.SmartTix.com.

Review: ‘The Trojan Women’ send an anti-war message through millenniums

‘The Trojan Women’, currently running in Flea Theater, is a tragedy originally written by Euripides. Ellen McLaughlin adopted the 415 BC play in 1995 in response to the Bosnian War. Unfortunately for humanity, anti-war plays are always relevant, thought this particular production, directed by Anne Cecelia Haney, doesn’t have many concrete historical or timely references.    

photo by Allison Stock

Women of Troy lost everything – their loved ones, their city and their freedom to the war with the Greeks. They spend their last hours awaiting the departure of the ships, which will bring them to new lands. The poisonous green walls, painted halfway, are like a transfer point for the refugees at a government owned institution. Scenic designer, Marthe Johanne Ekhougen, added some dirty plastic sheets to the ceiling and a string of bare lamp bulbs to transform the chamber space of the Flea’s basement theater into a prison-like limbo.

As the audience enters the theater, they see women sleeping on the floor. Their eyes are tied with transparent fabric. They dream of the majestic Troy, which was their home, they dream of themselves in the past, in a former life. They rise and join their voices to a chorus of nostalgic reminiscence. The terror of reality greets them upon awakening. Lead by Hecuba, a queen in exile (intense and unbreakable DeAnna Supplee), the women of Troy are fighting fear and despair. They remember the time when they saw a beautiful wooden horse outside the city and welcomed it as a token of peace from the Greeks. They sing and dance, recreating the joy of the end of the war. But we all know how that gift paid off.

Unable to reach their offenders, they hurl their anger on Helen (Rebeca Rad) who is hardly the one to blame. A fighting/dancing scene follows, beautifully staged by the choreographer Joya Powell. The sound design by Ben Vigus and the lighting by Scot Gianelli highlight the slow-mo moments of the fight, making it even more surreal and terrifying. The strong side light creates a very dramatic theatrical effect. In combination with the eclectic costume and scenic design by Marthe Johanne Ekhougen, it creates a unique, appealing and fancy look.

‘The Trojan Women’ runs through September 30th. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 9PM and Sunday at 3PM. Tickets are $15-$20 with the lowest priced tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis. The Flea Theater is located at 41 White Street between Church and Broadway. Purchase tickets by calling 212-352-3101 or online at www.theflea.org.

Review: ‘The Layover’; sex, lies and strangers on the plane

Two strangers meet on a plane waiting to take off from Chicago’s O’Hare on a snowy Thanksgiving night. The romantic flame between a college professor, Shellie (Annie Parisse), and an engineer, Dex (Adam Rothenberg), sparks immediately and nobody seems to be overly disappointed when the flight gets canceled. The layover becomes a romantic affair with a backdrop of snow falling over the tarmac.

photo by Joan Marcus

The prelude leading to the hotel room resembles one of a thousand romantic comedies set on the cusp of Thanksgiving/Christmas/Saint Valentine’s Day. ‘The Layover’ covers all three holidays while adding a couple of dark twists to the story of two lonely souls trying to connect. The romantic comedy quickly turns to psychological drama with elements of erotic thriller thrown into it.  

Playing with different genres seems like an interesting idea but it didn’t quite come together in this play. More and more characters appear (8 characters played by 6 actors total) with the solemn purpose to push the plot forward. Whether it’s the uneven writing or the underwhelming stage direction of Trip Cullman, but none of what’s happening seems realistic or relatable. At least the chemistry between Annie Parisse and Adam Rothenberg is good, particularly in two mirror scenes in the hotel room. But before you get to the first of them, you need to sit through three lengthy “talking heads” scenes.              

The “getting to know each other” part is long and not particularly grabbing. The dialogues are supposed to be funny and sharp (as promised by reviewers praising Leslye Headland’s writing talent). The playwright spreads the peacock tail of her wit and, through characters flirting with each other, is desperately trying to win over the audience. Dex stumbles and shies away from the flirty and confident Shellie while she seems to know exactly what she wants and is aggressively approaching it. Individual loud bursts of laughter are heard in the audience, so at least somebody is into it.

What began as a romantic adventure quickly becomes the story of dysfunctional relationships and attempts at escaping into a “romantic dream”. I got to give it to Headland, she succeed in creating characters whose lives are a constant seesaw between imaginary worlds and reality. Everybody is trying to hide from the truth in the fairytale-like narrative they create for themselves; whether it’s a “42 year old micromanaging her own wedding” while the relationship with her fiancé is cracking apart, or another 42 year old woman who once pretended that she is somebody else entirely.

      

The layered scenic design by Mark Wendland looks stunning and accommodates the action, which sometimes runs in two places at once. Glass panels slide up and down, creating different configurations depending on where we are. The gradual opening of more and more space is a visual representation of the structure of the play: as we move on we discover the true identities of the duplicitous characters. The lighting design by Japhy Weideman completes the set architecture by throwing colored shapes on the glass walls. The video design by Jeff Sugg features dreamily blurry window views of the airport and series of looped shots from 50s’ black and white movies.

‘The Layover’ produced by Second Stage Theatre is running through September 18^th. Schedule and tickets are available here.