Why Why Always

In the city of a far away galaxy where the word “conscience” is not in the dictionary and a hotel room comes with a professional seductress, you are not allowed to ask “Why?”. You are there to see how the secret agent Lemmy Caution, posing as Ivan Johnson (Jim Fletcher), a journalist from Figaro-Pravda, falls in love while saving the life of Natasha von Broun (Saori Tsukada). The city is called Alphaville.

photo by Paula Court

This homage to the film Alphaville (1965) by Jean-Luc Godard recreates the atmosphere of the classic science fiction noir. The performance borrows entire scenes from the movie in recreating the scenography, wardrobe and the nuances of intonation. Sometimes the technical lingo of the script is being read along with the voice over narration: “Exterior, Night”. This adds on to the alienating effect, which is created by the replication of Godard’s dialogues alone.       

The multimedia design by Shaun Irons and Lauren Petty (creators of this performance) is what truly makes the piece. The artistic duo is live processing the video planted in the midst of the audience while at their control deck.

The action on stage is being captured by multiple video cameras and projected on the walls of the theater. Transparent dividers function not only as space markers, but also as screens, which allows for the intricate play with three elements: actor, projection and a shadow.

Video sequences include some prerecorded footage reconstructing shots from Alphaville (Lemmy in his car lighting up a cigarette, Lemmy and Natasha discovering that they love each other). In Godard’s film these shots were made intentionally foreign to the otherwise realistically looking scenes. Much like insertions of graphic symbols and stills, they look as if they belong to a completely different visual universe.

Shaun Irons and Lauren Petty borrow these alien elements and recreate the collage effect by juxtaposing the live action and the recorded performance, theater and film. The only catch is that the actors are performing exactly the same way on both stage and screen, very cold and distant from themselves.

Everybody becomes a part of the super-computer Alpha 60, which is simultaneously the theme, the object the set and the character in the play. Video, sound and light design in the hands of Irons and Petty become, not enhancements of the show, but the show itself, making an actor just another technical means. Member of the audience is being transformed into the viewing machine engrossed by the ASMR scene in which three actresses fold towels, the image of their hands doubled by three projections.   

As the actors sometimes walk behind the audience continuing their dialog, the entire space comes into play. The Underground Theater of the Abrons Art Center is probably the perfect location for Why Why Always with its ceiling resembling a sci-fi space ship. Sitting in the dark belly of it, prepare yourself for the meditative and engulfing journey to a city in the galaxy far away, and don’t ever ask “Why?”