Review: “Makbet”

This immersive rendition of Macbeth talks meta-theatre and offers cherry vodka.

Dzieci Theatre sold me on using a shipping container as a venue for Makbet, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Scottish play. At Sure We Can in Brooklyn, a recycling center with funky art works, I encounter a group of actors and audience members by the trashcan fire. Gypsies from the Old Country are passing cherry vodka and kielbasa around while playing guitar and leading everybody into singing along.  

photo by Troy Hahn

Who knew that one of the most gut punching productions of Macbeth I ever saw would begin in a junkyard, among the less than glamorous piles of recyclables. Alas, after the ceremony of purification by spitting into a fire, we are ushered inside the shipping container and are offered to take a seat on milk crates on either side of the stage area. Matt Mitler, a founder of Dzieci Theatre and the director of Makbet, asks an audience member to read the “Rules of Engagement”.

According to those rules, three principle actors (Megan Bones, Yvonne Brechbuhler and Matt Mitler) must know the entire text and will switch roles by putting on a piece of costume associated with a certain character. The defining elements get introduced: a trench coat for a king, a piece of red cloth for Lady Macbeth, a hat for Macbeth and so on. The role can be “taken or given, embraced or refused”, inviting an improvisational aspect to the play. As Miller told me during the pre-show, occasionally even an audience member steps onto the Russian carpet, laid down to mark the stage.

Makbet is framed with multiple rituals, most of which are not explained to the audience. The actors sprinkle water around the fire and on the floor, wave around burning sage, and literally break bread with the audience at the end. Much of those ceremonies don’t really need an explanation. In many cultures food is shared to bring people together, and herbs are burnt to banish evil spirits, which is especially relevant with Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the cursed play. I don’t know if calling the play by its Polish name, Makbet, counts as a protective measure. “But if no one is Macbeth for too long, everybody should be safe”, - Miller assures the audience as a part of the pre-show “spiritual safety” instruction.  According to the rules, actors may not play the same role in successive sequences.

The play begins with the overhead light turning off and the door to the container shutting down with a clang. My friend nervously looks at me, and a joke from earlier pops into my head; what if they seal the container and ship us somewhere? The bluish ghostly light mounted in the far back illuminates the scene alone, but not for long. The actors effectively use flashlights to create intimacy that is reminiscent of a candle’s flame.

The shipping container is both shelter and a musical instrument. The three principle actors and four members of the chorus bang on it to create an uncanny reverberating sound, making the ground shake. Vocalization and songs are sprinkled throughout Makbet. Voices, amplified by the walls of the metal container, make you shiver. In a play with few props, sound is used for the weapons. Every swoosh of sword or dagger is accompanied by the actor’s piercing screech, akin to the way children play with toy weapons.

The name of the company, “Dzieci”, translates to kids from Polish, and much of what they do in Makbet resembles a game. There are rules and there are players assuming roles spontaneously. The elements of the costumes and props that mark the characters are snatched in the middle of a phrase, or refused and then actors chase one another as if playing tag. The combination of childish playfulness and the ritualistic approach to theater makes Makbet a one of a kind immersive show.

The location, lighting and props might sound like a scrappy DIY theater, but are in fact scrupulously fitted elements. The uncombed vagabond appearance of the actors (costumes by Karen Hatt) is so realistic that you will clutch your purse out of fear of being robbed. I don’t think I ever said that in any of my reviews, but Makbet is not to be missed. The beauty of Dzieci’s production is that, seemingly without trying, it can satisfy the tastes of very diverse audiences. A Shakespeare scholar, glamorous partygoer, adventure seeker, spiritual person and theater enthusiast or not, all kinds of folk will find something precious in this experience.          

__________

Makbet plays at Sure We Can, 219 Mckibben Street in Brooklyn, through October 8th, 2017. The running time is 1 hour 30 minutes with no intermission. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30, Sunday at 4. Tickets are $20, and are available at www.dziecitheatre.org.  

Makbet is based on Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Adapted, directed, and designed by Matt Mitler. Costumes are by Karen Hatt. Ryan Castalia is the music supervisor. Choral direction is by Jesse Hathaway.   

The cast is Megan Bones, Yvonne Brechbuhler, and Matt Mitler with a chorus featuring Ryan Castalia, Cris Cook, Jesse Hathaway and Felicity Doyle.

Review: “Inanimate”

 A woman passionate for inanimate objects is the subject of this quirky comedy opening the season at Flea’s brand new theater.

Erika La Tour Eiffel married Eiffel Tower in 2007 and became the inspiration for Nick Robideau’s new play, Inanimate. In it, a 30-year-old, also named Erica (Lacy Allen), struggles to maintain the façade of normalcy while having a relationship with various inanimate objects. When a customer at the supermarket sees her shoving a can opener down her pants, a scandal shakes the small Massachusetts town to the core, throwing shade on Trish (Tressa Preston), Erica’s older sister and a local politician. Embarrassed and with no one to talk to, Erica spends her lonely evenings with a boyfriend, Dee. Well, I am not sure if the term “boyfriend” is applicable in the objectum-sexual relationship. Because Dee is a Dairy Queen sign, represented on stage by both a metal pole and a handsome punk, Philip Feldman.

Lacy Allen and Philip Feldman in Inanimate. Photo by Hunter Canning

We see a parade of other objects, impersonated by the chorus members: Artem Kreimer, Nancy Tatiana Quintana, Michael Oloyede. Every time Oloyede appears on stage dressed as a BDSM can-opener, the audience can’t help but chuckle. Kreimer is rocking it as a vintage lamp and Quintana is adorable as a stuffed bear. But actors are merely human avatars, put there to make the play accessible to the rest of us, “people-sexuals”. Erica engages in passionate conversations and action with objects in her hands, not the people on stage. As she explains it to the newly acquired confidant, a fellow Dairy Queen employee, Kevin (Maki Borden), “It is not the sex in the way you’d think of sex. It’s more touching, rubbing… That sort of thing”. 

The quirky subject matter is handled with brutal honesty and extreme delicacy by both the playwright Robideau and the director Courtney Ulrich. Above all, Inanimate is about compassion and willingness to accept the other as they are. Well written and tastefully directed, the play goes beyond the initial curiosity in the unusual sexual preferences of the heroine. It reminds us how helpful it is to find your own flock, whether it is over Dungeons and Dragons or objectophilia, and how important it is to allow yourself to be who you are.  

Lacy Allen is on point as Erica, with her pink ombré hair and hands nervously clutching tight jeans. Kevin, a Dairy Queen manager, portrayed by Maki Borden, makes for a lovable counterpart, stuck between his nerdy hobbies and the pressure of societal expectations. Though they could have been a perfect couple of misfits, they find a better arrangement for their relationship goals.

__________

Inanimate plays at The Flea Theater, 20 Thomas Street, through October 1st, 2017. The running time is 1 hour 30 minutes with no intermission. Performances are Thursday through Monday at 7, with Sunday matinees at 3. Tickets are $15 with the lowest priced tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis, and are available by calling 212-352-3101 or at www.theflea.org.  

Inanimate is by Nick Robideau. It is directed Courtney Ulrich. Scenic Design is by Yu-Hsuan Chen. Costume Design is by Sarah Lawrence. Lighting Design is by Becky Heisler. Sound Design is by Megan Culley. Gina Solebello is the Production Stage Manager. 

     

The cast is Lacy Allen, Maki Borden, Philip Feldman, Tressa Preston, Artem Kreimer, Nancy Tatiana Quintana, Michael Oloyede.

Review: “A Ribbon About A Bomb”

An immersive show with surreal sets and live music intertwines the biographies of Frida Kahlo, Remedios Varo, and Leonora Carrington.    

What did it mean to be a female artist in the surrealist movement of the twentieth century? They were rarely taken seriously and had to fight prejudice and for their place in the art world. Add overbearing parents, cheating husbands, forced relocation, and various physical and mental health conditions, and you get the collective portrait of the three heroines of A Ribbon About A Bomb: Frida Kahlo, Remedios Varo, and Leonora Carrington.             

The cast of A Ribbon About A Bomb. Photo by Al Rodriguez.

The immersive show, produced by Exquisite Corpse Company, takes place in a run down two-story mansion on Governors Island. A fifteen-minute ferry ride ($2 round-trip) transports you to the surreal world of three artists, filled with installations inspired by the life and work of Carrington, Kahlo, and Varo. All three of them knew each other and all ultimately lived in Mexico. Spanish-born Varo and British Carrington first met in Paris, and lived in close proximity from each other in Mexico City. They were friends for about 20 years, often working together.

Another common ground for all three is the surrealist movement, in which Varo and Carrington took part. Kahlo rejected the label of “surrealist artist” placed on her by Andre Breton. The recurring theme of A Ribbon About A Bomb (how Breton described Kahlo’s painting) is how female artists must fight against imposed boundaries while searching for an authentic path in life and in art.

The show is actually two plays happening simultaneously. Upon arrival you are randomly assigned to attend either “The Wedding” or “The Funeral” (I saw the latter). Six audience members are ushered into a dimly lit room with a coffin in the middle, evoking interiors from the mystical paintings of Varo and Carrington. We are here to meet the eccentric, and presumably tipsy, Leonora (Blaire O’Leary) and Frida (Sara Ornelas) circa 1940, dressed as in her Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair.

As Ornelas sings, she is not the Frida as we know her, abundantly decorated with ribbons and flowers. Still Ornelas perfectly captures the character: exuberant, feisty, and sincere. We can see that her fireball energy is generated from pain, both physical and emotional. Throughout the play we collect bits and pieces of Kahlo’s biography, though it certainly helps to be familiar with it. I knew next to nothing about Varo and Carrington, so it was more difficult to connect the dots. Each of three women takes the audience to a solo-scene at some point, but it feels like two lesser-known artists get less “air time.”

It is also enjoyable to drift along without submerging yourself in research prior to the show. The collective writing of ten authors and original score by KG Garlington invites you to surrender to the collage-like text and forget about exhausted narratives. After all, even the producing company’s name, Exquisite Corpse, comes from the game invented by surrealists in which each following person contributes to the text (or drawing) of the previous.

Some of the sets—by Andrea Caldarise, Lee Collins, Sara Gosses, Tess Howsam and Mila Villasana—are works of art themselves. Of note is the collaborative installation “Corseted Community,” featuring clay corsets painted by women artists from the USA and Mexico. Leonora Carrington’s dress, which fills the entire room, is another of many striking visuals.

A Ribbon About A Bomb is true to its name, a beautiful design wrapped around an explosive core. Although the eclectic writing is not even and can fall into either obscurity or banality at times, the performances, especially of O’Leary and Ornelas, are what drive the show. I would run up and down stairs all day if one of them were leading the way.  

__________

A Ribbon About A Bomb plays on Governors Island, Colonels Row, House 407B, through October 1, 2017. The running time is 1 hour and 15 minutes with no intermission. Performances are Fridays at 3 and Saturdays and Sundays at 1 and 4. Tickets are $20 for a single show, $30 for both. Tickets and more information are available at exquisitecorpsecompany.com.

A Ribbon About A Bomb is by Karina Billini, Blake Bishton, Phillip Christian, Georgina Escobar, Emily Krause, Elizagrace Madrone, Alexandra Paola, Alexis Roblan, Carmen Rivera, and Alisa Zhulina. Directed by Tess Howsam. Installations are by Andrea Caldarise, Lee Collins, Sara Gosses, Tess Howsam, Mila Villasana. Lighting Design is by Sara Gosses. Sound Design is by Carsen Joenk. Original Music is by KG Garlington. Costume Design is by Matsy Stinson. Stage Manager is Jillian Goldstein.

The cast is Christin Cato, Mindy Escobar-Leanse, KG Garlington, Stephanie Chloe Hepner, Andrea Lopez, Blaire O’Leary, Sara Ornelas, Rosie Yadid and Zosha Warpehla.

[This review was published on theasy.com on 9.10.2017]