reactions to: bobrauchenbergamerica (7/12, Asheville)

Reactions to final dress rehearsal of local production of Charles Mee's bobraushenbergamerica
July 12, 2006
North Carolina Stage Company (Catalyst Series)

directed by Treavor Gouge and Amy DeGiralamo

What I liked most about this production was first, that these people decided to do this very interesting play (first in the four-part series, second of which is Hotel Cassiopeia), and second, that they didn't do too badly with it. It wasn't the visual feast that it would have been with the SITI Company, but it also didn't have that annoyingly self-conscious, self-congratulatory presence. The actors weren't bad--some were quite good in a conventional sense, though they lacked the sense of space and physical control they needed (most annoyingly, they didn't know how to hold still, nor to use stillness--except the woman playing Bob's Mother). But they connected when they needed to connect, and they found a simplicity that worked more often that I would have thought.

I was a little disappointed to discover that Mee suggests most of the non-verbal actions that I had thought were found by the actors and director. (His scripts are online: http://www.charlesmee.org/html/plays.html.) Looking at the script, I think this production didn't take the kinds of chances that Mee seems to be asking for. However, what might have been the most "alive" moment for me was invented (Mee calls for a 600 piece brass band, or a bagpipe): a man came onstage with a saw and bow, sat, the cast gathered to watch as he played "The Star Spangled Banner" on the saw (excellently). It was just great, mainly because it was exactly what it was. And it sounded wonderful, of course.

I think I like the play more than Hotel Cassopeia. It doesn't have that "twee" quality (though that had much to do with the lead actor in the SITI production). It's a very different play, though in the same non-linear style. Actually, this play was much less obviously connected to the artist, less representational, more of a collage (both plays seem to be constructed to mirror the style of the artist). Whether it's the script or the production, I think it was too long and seemed to rely too much on a series of monologues toward the end, one after another. And--although it seemed long and a bit shapeless toward the end--I kept thinking that it needed more stillness, more space to breathe.

Moments I remember well:
-- playing national anthem on saw
-- man welcomes us (halfway through) and says he'll talk about how the show was put together; but then we realize that the "show" he's talking about is a gallery opening and he's the curator.
-- and then the art show (which makes a point of saying anything can speak of the point of view of the person who made it, and be valued for that as art) turns into a yard sale just by the Mother putting tags on all the objects on stage--which relates back to her saying earlier that her grandmother's possessions were all gotten rid of at a yard sale, when she would rather have thrown them against a wall to see what they made broken up.
-- look and attitude of Ryan as pizza delivery guy/murderer: geeky, innocuous, totally alienated from the act he tells about.
-- actress eating cupcakes as she talks through her full mouth about trying to find love: great idea and very well-acted.
-- contrast between frenetically joyful squaredancing/clogging interrupted by actor getting shot, followed by another actor telling chicken jokes.

Other thoughts: Made me think (as every performance does these days) about whether anything was really happening for me, even as I enjoyed the performance more than many. Mostly: no. What do I want from a performance? Just to be amazed, gobstopped, to have my life changed (if only for a time). Is that so much to ask?