NYC’s WITNESS rethinks the iconic film noir archetypes of a Private Eye and Femme Fatale
- Are you a very good detective?
- No. But some would say I am the
best.
A private eye, John Beckett, and a
woman in a burgundy dress lock eyes five feet away from me in the dimly lit
cabaret. She introduces herself as Vivian but he calls her Effie, suspecting
she might be somebody he met a while ago. She looks troubled. He glares with
the excitement of a person whose work is driven by passion, not money. “What’s
on her mind? Will he be able to help her?” — those questions race through my
head and, before I know it, half of the audience storms out of the theatre
chasing an unseen character into a labyrinth of hallways. I decide to stay,
unable to turn my eyes away from Effie. Little did I know, she is not the only
femme fatale in this detective story.
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NOIRTOWN, an
immersive play produced by WITNESS, is staged in the Lower East Side’s
Clemente Soto Velez, and is a part of Rave Theater
Festival. It draws on the aesthetics of film noir and invites the
audience to follow one of three cases, each investigated by a different
detective. The note given out upon entry explains the mechanics of the
experience: we are free to follow any of the characters, we can not speak or
touch anything. This brief “onboarding” is somewhat ambivalent regarding the intended
way to perceive the show. So I take liberty and switch tracks a few times by
following each of three detectives. Thanks to the genius structural design, or
by pure chance, I ended up with a complex, coherent story, which blew my mind.
Chance or not, this multi-track
immersive play, written by Michael Bontatibus is probably the best specimen of
this genre I have ever seen. It is complex in the way that it intertwines the
three storylines, (spoiler) taking place in 1929, 1938 and 1960, bending
the border between reality and imagination. But at the same time it has
resounding clarity, culminating in the resolution of the cases. I deliberately
don’t want to go into the details of the plot to reserve the pleasure of
uncovering a mystery for future audiences. After all, retelling a personal
experience with some immersive shows is a little bit like explaining a magic
trick. I sincerely hope that NOIRTOWN will be produced again
after its short, sold-out festival run. So let’s keep it a secret for now.
Which doesn’t prevent me from sharing what exactly made the show a success and
what can be further explored by the creators.
NOIRTOWN would
benefit from a location that could better accommodate a few dozen audience
members more than it currently hosts, or by decreasing the size of the
audience. There are three main spaces where action takes place: a theater with
a bar, a detective’s office and a warehouse, all connected by corridors. The
rooms themselves are big enough, but you can’t squeeze through the hallways without
bumping into somebody. When the scene unfolds in one of those transition
spaces, it is nearly impossible to catch a glimpse of it unless you happen to
be one of five people in its immediate proximity. It reminded me of a situation
when something happens on the street and a crowd of onlookers starts gathering
around. Those who join late can at least ask the person next to them what
happened. Unable to talk, we didn’t have the pleasure of socializing over an
incident. Not knowing, in some cases, maintains the suspense. In this situation
it is just frustrating and disappointing. I saw a lot of people jumping off to
a different track in moments like this, which might prevent the emotional
investment into a character’s fate.
As for the minimalistic scenic design
by Lauren Barber, one can tell that it is born out of budget limitations and
the necessity to unfold and fold the scenery momentarily for quick turnaround.
But the barebone approach works, largely due to the aesthetic of the existing
space. Parquet floors, tall arched windows and heavy doors painted in
government-issued white evoke nostalgia. Seats in the theatre are spread
cabaret-style to allow the actors to move between them. Red velvet wings frame
the stage area and there is a functioning bar to the side of it. The walls of
the “warehouse” are covered with plastic sheets and there is no furniture save
for a bench and a payphone on the wall. The detective’s office consists of a
desk and a coat hanger. These scarce site-evocative design elements are just
enough to create an outline, an idea of certain room, creating a surreal effect
of suspension in a dream, a memory or a fantasy.
The usage of projections isn’t always
clear or necessary, largely because the setup interferes with minimalistic set
design. There are sizable projection stations in both the “warehouse” and the
“detective’s office” with stagehands manning them and the lights. Planted close
to the middle of each room, they attract unnecessary attention, an effect not
justified by the content of the videos they play. In the detective’s office,
the projection shows the inside of the office window, with Beckett’s name on
it, a mostly decorative shot. Bridging the gap between film and theatre is a
daring artistic move but it needs more attention to both the idea behind it and
its execution.
The chiaroscuro lighting with its
strong contrast between shadow and light is signature to film noir aesthetics.
The lighting designer, Elizabeth M. Stewart, did her research well and was able
to achieve the thrilling dramatic effects with very modest means. Sound by Trey
McGee and Jamie Amadruto contributes to the atmosphere with the period music.
Even the performances of the cast, directed by Charlotte Murray, are styled to
mimic the classic noir films of the 40s and 50s, with articulated, rapid speech
and dialogues reminiscent of a fencing match. The tension between a cynical
private eye and a mysterious femme fatale is palpable in nearly every scene.
From that alone the sense of danger and urgency spreads out, contaminating the
room, making me want to follow the characters running.
As the play progresses, scenes are
getting shorter and I find myself moving faster, my heart pounding. It’s
fascinating how even without engaging the audience members through interaction
or role playing, NOIRTOWN makes me a part of the story by
simply allowing me to synchronize my biological rhythm with the rhythm of the
show. I saw some people getting discouraged by the claustrophobic bottle-neck
effect created in the hallways and switching to a different character or simply
staying in one room. And I saw some people elbowing their way through, Sleep
No More-style. I can’t account for their experiences but I imagine the
“easiest” way to watch NOIRTOWN would be to simply follow a
single case. It’s not always easy to do for reasons external and internal:
crowds and FOMO (fear of missing out). So I found a compromise to enjoy the
show that worked for me.
On several occasions the characters of
all three stories come together on stage in delirious nightmare-like scenes
(dance choreography by Kellyn Thornburg) and then scatter again. I found that
this is the best time to jump onto a different track, because all the scenes
would start at once, so I wouldn’t be walking into the middle of a dialogue. My
attempt to follow all three plotlines created a bit of vertigo, a sensation
quite appropriate for NOIRTOWN. By the end it all came together,
yet I’d love to come back to dive deeper into each of the plotlines and find
myself, once again, in the atmosphere of dangerous, seductive and oneiric world
of film noir.
__________
NOIRTOWN plays as part of the Rave Theatre Festival at
Teatro Latea,107 Suffolk Street, 2nd Floor, NYC through August 25th. $45.
Limited tickets remain.
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