Cal Rep Plays with Reality, Surrealism

by Becky Kinder - Originally Published May 4, 2011

“The Pool of Bethesda,” written by Allan Cubitt and directed for Cal Rep’s current production by Joanne Gordon, is an intermingling of art and science, love and loss, pain and laughter. The script, and certainly Gordon’s artistic vision of the play, asks the question not only of who has access health care, but who has access to art as well.

London surgeon, Danny, finds himself caught up in what he calls a dream, becoming immersed in William Hogarth’s painting of the same title by posing as Christ for the artist. The supporting characters of Danny’s hallucinations just happen to be the people who are most important to him in his life, though they don’t have that knowledge themselves. It is sort of like how certain people in The Wizard of Oz who are from Dorothy’s real life also pop up as other characters in Oz, but in this case we are faced with fantastical illusions with heavier topics such as fidelity and living in truth rather than fantasy.

The first act places us mainly in Danny’s hallucinations, which can leave the audience a bit detached from making any emotional connections to the characters or their relationships with each other. We are especially disconnected from fully understanding the annoyance and conviction Danny feels about his experiences within his visions. The second act brings us into the immediate “real world” story of Danny’s life and why he is having the visions we have seen him in and really begins to solidify the connections he has with his wife, sister, colleague and newfound friend.
The multimedia combinations used by Gordon in this production meld the scientific and arts worlds together even more, but is more of a means to signify such rather than an impetus to the story. Thankfully the use of video and lighting is not overwhelming and distracting to the work the production has put into the piece, and the vocal work is more than appropriate, it adds delightful touches in the ominous connections between Danny’s dreams and his reality.

Danny is skillfully played by John Prosky, especially in the second act and in his interactions with his sister (Sarah Underwood) and the wonderfully interchangeable Josh Nathan. Prosky and Nathan have some of the most touching moments in the play, and this really helps build up the inner turmoil Danny is trying to live with once their friendship begins to blossom in the face of deterioration.

Some of the accents are pretty unfortunate at times, along with the extreme melodramatic performances that are also inconsistent as a whole within certain scenes. Danny’s wife (Anna Steers) has a face to nearly match Anna Paquin, but her melodramatic performance often does not work, and her determination to play distress causes her eyes to get so bugged out that the audience giggled a little when those eyes are referred to on occasion.

The set design has a detailed simplicity and adds to the pictures Gordon creates in her staging. The costumes are top notch from head to toe, but the cancerous breast looks like an unmatched and unblended after-thought. Cal Rep’s home is currently on The Queen Mary, and though the theatre itself seems a perfect venue, the seats are only fit for the shortest of legs and, sadly, make for a physically uncomfortable experience for many.
There is a difficulty in balancing the surreal with more realistic moments in “The Pool of Bethesda,” but when the cast dives in to that pool of realism, they really shine and throw us into the emotion of these characters’ lives. This is not the play to see because it’s a requirement for your freshman elective (you’ll likely only be a distraction to those who actually want to be there), but is fine example of theatre for thought as well as entertainment.

‘Cendrillon’ Opera Not Just Another Cinderella Story

by Becky Kinder - Originally Published April 11, 2011

Opera can be unapproachable to even the most avid theatre buff, but the use of a commonly known fairy tale story such as Cinderella, even the youngest novice can find fun and appreciation in a night at the opera. The latest production of the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music here at California State University, Long Beach is “Cendrillon,” by Jules Massenet with libretto by Henri Cain.

First performed in 1899, Massenet and Cain used some well-known aspects of Perrault’s 1698 tale, but conceived of some fresh interpretations for the story. This production echoes that sentiment with its own conceptive twists of the opera under the direction of Stephanie Vlahos.

Though Vlahos is a Director-In-Residence for the conservatory and has the experience of a professional singer, her capability as a director for “Cendrillon” is delightful in theory, but not in execution. The curtain opens on several occasions to excruciatingly uneventful staging where the performers are standing or sitting and doing nothing but that. Placing an actor on a stage is not the same as blocking a story to bring it to life. Vlahos’ conceptual themes and their simplicity and post-modern funk work for the set and some of the costumes, make up, and hair, but fall flat in most of the actual direction of the performers. There is a child the story of Cinderella is being read to, and it is as though her imagination is what we see being performed on the stage, but Vlahos’ staging of the child through almost every scene becomes merely a distraction and annoyance, for there is nothing for her to do but stare at the action and eventually she gets so bored she is just rubbing her face and looking at the ceiling. The child would have been better as an undertone and periodic spice to the story, rather than such a focus as Vlahos set her up to be. The lyrics, though in French, are provided in English by supertitles above the stage, and only end up magnifying that more action should be happening, such as when the servants are suddenly nervous that their master is in the room, though he was there, down center, all along and could not be missed.

The cast was comprised of high and low points as well, though it is hard to tell if it is only that their experience is lacking or if it is also the direction. Standout performances were given in this evening performance by Zoe Scaljon (Cendrillon) and Mindi Ehrlich (Madame de la Haltiere). These women not only have amazing voices, but their acting is what really secures them as spotlight performers. Scaljon’s voice is creamy and seemingly effortless, while Ehrlich’s acting soars above the rest. The stepsisters, played by Beth Wightwick and Jessie Shulman, are a joy with their physicality at times as well, and the other leads and chorus caress the ears as well.

The set design by Frederica Nascimento is perfectly simple in Cendrillon’s home, but misses the mark in other aspects, such as the weird Fairy Godmother coach and clouds that looked like black trash bags covering foam. The costume, make up, and hair designs by Nancy Wei are also interesting and fun in some ways, but lack being more cohesive with the lyrics and feel of the music. This is very apparent during the scenes with the birds which take the place of any other fairy-like characters and are more buzzard-faced ugly things than whimsical.

I do recommend seeing this production, which runs as a double cast with matinee and evening shows, but its two and a half hour run and French lyrics, along with overly sexualized staging, make it inappropriate for the little ones who will get bored or confused. Know that Cain wrote the libretto with the Prince as a soprano, so that makes it a breeches role played by a woman. The harmonies of the Prince and Cendrillon work overall, but I miss the blending of a strong tenor that Massenet and Cain did not acheive.

Though this production has a dark tone in its costuming and paint and its production quality is lacking at times, it is, as the translated lyrics say, “embroidered in color.”

Playhouse 'Clowns' Not Humorous

by Becky Kinder - Originally Published March 8, 2011

In its second year, Alive Theatre’s “Four Clowns,” now playing at the Long Beach Playhouse, follows each of its four characters through unconventional stages of life: childhood, adolescence, adulthood and death.

Clowning, a theatrical style used in many forms, can be traditionally painted faces, more natural characterizations like Bill Irwin uses and even religious outreach groups like “Clowns for Christ.” There are classes at universities and acting schools for movement and clowning, along with entire schools dedicated to learning the intricacies necessary to be a good clown.

Though there are memorable moments, a solid foundation in clowning is missing from the performances and overall conception of “Four Clowns.” Kevin Klein (Mischievous) and Raymond Lee (Angry, especially in one of the show’s most vivid moments where he’s holding a balloon) had their funny business at times, but Alexis Jones (Sad) and, most notably, Amir Levi (Nervous) were the most developed. The cast’s song and dance scenes had their delight at times as well.

The shortcomings seem to come from the script and direction of Jeremy Aluma. Noted in the program as being created by Aluma, the cast, and Quincy Newton, the production missed the mark in its integration of clowning and realism. With a narrow view of sex, processing difficult experiences, and of verbal expression to boot, the audience is bombarded with over the top sex scenes and cussing in misplaced attempts at being what we can relate to. Instead of a satire’s commentary on emoting, society, and the human experience, the clowns are mostly playing at emotions. Certain strong points of characterizations were found when the focus was more on the simplicity of bullying and the “Whatever!” attitude of teenagers, rather than trying so hard to make scenarios funny when they just are not.

The costume and make-up designs tapped into the vein of more traditional clown styles and the funky ties and exaggerated painted expressions were fun. Pianist Mario Granville was a decent player and added atmosphere, but his hammy expressions and periodic involvement in the action were distracting and annoying.

Props were minimal and the choices of what to mime and what to actually hold were a bit confounding. The set and lighting were also minimal and though the production did not have the need for a lot, it did have the need for a clearer direction in their designs and cues at times, such as a helpful variation in lighting to discern the moments of audience participation from the action that brought the scenes into the audience.

Those who were likely friends of the actors were on top of giving suggestions when prompted, but the audience members who were not fully aware of what they were in for were left stammering or mute. The cast was allowed to improvise, it seemed throughout, and given freedom to heckle those who tried to use the restroom during the show, providing bits of laughter, though still showing the need of more training for the actors.

While waiting in the lobby, I noted how many signs were posted as a warning to the “adult content” and that the play might offend; the only thing I found offensive was that the bulk of the material wasn’t adult content at all but was repetitive and self-indulgent.

The program’s tagline states, simply: “Laughter is the Best Medicine.” I get it, that you want us to find humor in even the tough moments of life, but working for us to laugh at it rather than allowing the moments to just happen so we can laugh with the characters through their experiences are two different things. The dead air pause after each death is painful rather than meaningful, as we feel little to no emotional connection to the characters’ stories; this show needs a few prescriptions for maximum health.

One audience member remarked that the show was “too weird for her” while another left saying that she “failed to see how this was supposed to be entertaining.” Now that’s not clowning around.

Alive Theatre’s production of “Four Clowns” plays through March 19th at the Long Beach Playhouse.

Stage Review - "The Aluminum Show"

by Becky Kinder - Originally Published 03/13/2011

What some call “reminiscent of Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil and STOMP” is more of a scraping at the residue of those shows. “The Aluminum Show,” in its West Coast debut Saturday at The Carpenter Center, was extremely energetic but also lacking in many ways.

Created by Israeli dancer, Ilan Azriel, the troupe of dancers and puppeteers uses recovered materials from industrial factories for their set, costumes and prop pieces. What could have been an exciting show ended up being an incongruent set of ideas thrown together to create a production without a solid through line. What little story line the show had to carry us from scene to scene seemed like an after-thought.

Instead of a variety show with each scene having its own story line, “The Aluminum Show’s” story line popped up sporadically: a “mother and father” of aluminum tubes has somehow lost their little baby tube, Slinky. Instead of being able to follow each of these characters, if you will, through their adventures in search of each other, we are thrown through a series of scenes that don’t flow well or make much sense, especially all together.

The audience interaction was eaten up by delighted children in the audience, though this interaction never made sense to the staging of the show and was uneventful, overall. I think the kids reacted the way they did because they went from seeing something on stage to it being in their hands. It’s the same as fans that fawn over celebrity chewing gum; it’s something they see every day, but because it’s now touched by a performer, it’s somehow worth more. The children often fought over the props, breaking several of them in their tugging from all sides, leaving afterwards with pieces and sheets of aluminum products their parents could buy at the supermarket or party supply store. Did Azriel think we would react to the feel of aluminum the same way we did when we felt our first sting ray at Sea World?

The original music by Ivri Lider was wonderful and aided in keeping the audience in the high-energy tone the show strived for. The dancers were talented on their own, but missed the cohesive movements even their most basic choreography required, especially in their most STOMP inspired scene of playing a song with their tubes.

Each scene would have been better served by Daniel (in the goggles) and Slinky finding each other and going on a journey together to find the latter’s parents, coming across each scene as thought they’ve traveled to somewhere new, rather than it just being a new gimmick of playing with foil bits.

The large puppets the team used at times were not as magical as they should have been because they were being controlled by the people, usually without a costume change, we just saw running around in a bizarre attempt at choreography. The one time the cast did put on black shifts to work a “puppet” was ruined by their urban “moccasins” and pants bottoms peeking out from underneath.

A more focused story line would serve this production well. In the factory pillow production scene, why not have Daniel and Slinky come through this scene of people, have it be quitting time at the end of their shift, and then have the giant puppet come to life on its own?

This show suffers from too many ideas that are not truly connected, weird moments of breaking the fourth wall that don’t generally work, inconstant characters and visuals, and too much reliance on the high energy aspect to carry the show’s entertainment value.

The best moments were the prologue of rules and one (of the way too many) curtain calls with the motion capture wall at the end. Yes, it could potentially be a fun show to bring certain ages of kids to (it’s a family-friendly show, but not for the tiny ones; it’s just to scary for them and will make them cry, as one child did through most of this show), but the ticket price is too steep for the quality of show, is not really adult-friendly but there is potential lurking in the Reynolds Wrap; it’s just too half-baked.