|
Beate Hein Bennett Teaching
the Living and Liberating the Dead Sept. 12 – 15, 2024
The magical sounds of a Theramin, produced by the magnetism of a player’s subtle hand and finger movements, envelops the audience as it gathers in the small lobby at 74 E. 4th Street. Out of nowhere, a wondrously attired graceful older woman with an otherworldly gaze appears and roams for a while among the audience before she disappears behind the glass door through which the audience eventually follows up a flight of stairs to the actual theater space. Have we entered a strange in-between world, between the theater and our own actual reality--between the living and the dead, as the title of the piece we are about to witness intimates? Death, the ineluctable most powerful reality of all living beings and things, is now our subject for the evening—especially the death of one closest to us: a parent, a sibling, a spouse. Nika Velt, a Russian-born playwright living in France, had written an earlier version of this play titled “Bardo Thedol or Grandma you are dead”. Bardo Thedol [English: The Tibetan Book of the Dead] is central to the dramaturgy of the present play. The ancient Tibetan text is a guidebook for the living and the dead with 49 days worth of instructions [bardos] on how to manage that most mysterious passage. The ancient Egyptians also had a Book of the Dead. The Greeks and the Romans believed in some sort of Elysian Fields where the spirits would roam eternally. Christianity developed an elaborate Heaven and Hell structure for the disembodied souls to be discharged to. The Jewish tradition has no space for any afterlife—the body is laid to rest in the earth-- “dust to dust” --and the living sit shiva for seven days. Buddhists believe in the possibility of reincarnation in a different body. From earliest times mankind appears to have contemplated the question of Life and Death and the relationship between the microcosm and the macrocosm as an experience of the forces of Nature. What, who, where, and why are we-- “the quintessence of dust”-- in this universe? These questions have been the stuff of philosophy, poetry and drama.
Olga Lvoff and co-director Elena Che have created a piece of theatrical poetry with this production. Olga Lvoff, known for being a documentary filmmaker, makes her debut as a theater director with this play, while Elena Che brings to the production her experience with mask work, Butoh, mime and modern dance. Taking their cue from the playwright’s inspiration of a dream and her interest in “magical realism,” they have guided five actors and five dancers in full Tibetan head masks into a coherent ensemble moving seamlessly between realistic moments of family squabbles and the imaginary world of the dead as described in the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The drama is centered on a family: husband Peter, wife Ella, teenage daughter Aly, younger brother Nicky, and Grandma. The center of attention is the Grandmother whose funeral they just had attended but, upon coming home, they find her sitting at the kitchen table eating with her fingers slowly, mechanically yet delicately some morsels from a bowl; though very present, she looks utterly disconnected. The play devolves from this first moment of real unreality, where the world of the living and the world of the dead mingle, as is described in the Tibetan Bardo Thedol. Kat Shepard is superb in her portrayal of the absent/present Grandma; her eyes and hand movements sustain the impression of one who is in another world. Efi Kitsanta as her daughter Ella is nervously trying to hold the family together with her practical attempts at feeding her insatiable mother and placating the rest of the family. Peter, her husband, played by Basil Lvoff, creates moments of humor with his exaggerated reactions to this ghostly presence but his fears drive him away from the family. Aly, played by Madeline Naylor with all the fresh teenage qualities, is the one who takes charge by reading the instructions [bardos] from The Book, accepting the presence of the ghost as a matter-of-fact. Little Nicky, played by Noah Lang, is charming in his innocence as he wonders whether Grandma, or they are in the other world.
Marla Phelan has created a choreography that mixes styles of expressive biomechanics with mime enhanced by the grotesque masks for the five dancers Kelly Milone, Truth Colon, Liana Zhen-al, Xavier Townsend, and Denis Erzaim (who also does the Tibetan throat song). They shadow the “real” characters once Aly begins to read from The Book. They are remarkable in their dexterity with which they execute the intricate choreography in a tight space. Sean Devare designed and fabricated the fantastic masks. Costumes designed by Lisa Renee Jordan are distinctly contemporary for the family while Grandma’s garb is delicate in color and fabric. Set Designer Anna Kiraly divided the playing space into two distinct areas, bedroom and kitchen by using transparent panels that emphasize (even metaphorically) the simultaneity of the two worlds—as the audience can catch a partial glimpse of itself during the performance, we are included in the family’s emotional exploration of love and death. Nic Vincent’s lighting augments the spatial divisions while also focusing on emotional moments. Masha Vasilevskaya composed the soundscape and plays the Theramin in the lobby.
Hamilton Clancy, Director of the Drilling Company, must be congratulated
for having chosen to support this production by Diplodocus Arts,
a film documentary production company, based in New York. Six performances
over four days are not enough for this fine production which deserves
a longer or another run. [BHB] |
| recordings | coupons | publications | classified |