FRINGING THE CLASSICS
By Glenda Frank
“Movie Geek” by Dylan Dawson at Collective:
Unconscious, 279 Church Street,Aug.12-26,2005.
“Bronx Express” by Osip Dymov, trans. Nahma Sandrow, at the
Linhart Theater, 440 Lafayette St., Aug. 12-24, 2005.
“Amerika,” adapted by Alexander Poe from the novel by Franz
Kafka at the Mazer Theater, 197 East Broadway, Aug 12-25,2005.
All New York Fringe tickets were $15.
With 180 productions in 19 venues over roughly two weeks, play selection at the Ninth International New York Fringe Festival becomes a formidable challenge. Some critics see just about everything, and some skip the Fringe completely because word of mouth and instinct are far from guarantees. In selecting my dozen or so productions, I make sure to visit updated classics on the theory that in case of a disaster, the perfume from the original will waft in here and there, like oxygen or air-conditioning. 2005 yielded a surprisingly accomplished vintage although the bouquet of “Fringe” – offbeat, zany, daring, and surreal – was milder than in previous years.
Heading the list, “Movie Geek” was a gourmet treat, a delicious parody of “Citizen Kane,” which was sold-out after the first performance and awarded the Outstanding Multimedia prize by Fringe judges. It’s undeniable that the inclusion of filmed appearances of stars like Henry Winkler and Bill Cosby commenting on the life of the Geek were draws, but everything about the play shouted Terrific!
Like “Citizen Kane,” “Movie Geek” involves a quest, to uncover the life of a mysterious icon of popular culture, the man who became the quintessential fan. (Very funny!) Through flashbacks, doctored newsreels, onstage and filmed interviews with friends, and gossip bites, we learn about his underprivileged farm childhood (“laced” with the smell of his dad’s whiskey breath and cow manur), his epiphany while watching his first film (as an adult), his stint in jail and flight, his subsequent rise to advisor to the stars, his marriage, and his lonely death. “Movie Geek” is so twenty-first (century) that it incorporates – seamlessly -- the newest of resume-boosters, jail-time.
By referencing scores of film moments and bits from celebrity biographies, author Dylan Dawson taps our collective memories. We are part of and in on the jokes. After the lovable Movie Geek (Dylan Dawson again) kills Big Boy, he gains his acquittal by watching legal films to learn defense law strategy. The play shamelessly drops the names of movie luminaries, from Disney to Kathleen Turner, and the Jack Nicholson character in “A Few Good Men” provides a few lines. Even Baldwin brothers jokes aren’t resisted. Meanwhile the Geek, winning high-profile awards and jobs with Natalie Wood as his campaign manager, has become a popcorn addict.
The pleasures extend beyond parody– into clever staging routines. Like the conductor who appears first onstage to lead an invisible orchestra while the screen performs a symphony of color changes. The phrasing is full of surprises and hyperbole: the Geek is “the fat man’s skinny man”; his rise volcanic, his downfall an avalanche. In the midst of all these multimedia surprises, director Andy Donald inserts a few silent movie gimmicks. The creative team, including sound designer Nick Cregor and dramaturge Deena Selenow, obviously love the movies, but perhaps they love theatre just as much to bring us this little Fringe masterpiece. As for “Nose Plug,” a skewered version of Kane’s “Rosebud,” the secret is safe with me.
“Bronx Express” deserves a second-life – and a third and a fourth! A hit in 1919 when author Osip Dymov was one of the most sought after young Yiddish playwright, the satiric fantasy with its this slice-of-life framework offers a loving but satirical portrait of the new Eastern-European immigrants. Thanks in part to the new, beautifully conceived production and staging by Miriam Weiner with music by Jonathan David and lyrics by Glen Berger and Joseph Goodrich, “Bronx Express” (in English) carries its age with style and often seems contemporary with its crowded subways scenes, power meetings and buffoonish con man.
Khatskl Hungerproud (Jeffrey Schecter), the protagonist, is a factory worker with a loving family, but his secret American dream is for riches and power. Yankl Flames (Jase Draper), a penurious braggard, ignites his fantasies and when Khatskl falls asleep, we enter his mind as he organizes a millionaires’ closed-shop, becomes the lover of the wealthy Arrow Collar Girl (Yelena Shmulenson), and adopts the prosperous Nestle Baby (Susan Kokot Stokes). The fantasy mocks itself as it conflates affluent images from newspaper stories with figures from subway ads and union jargon. Khatskl’s reverie turns ugly when he realizes how he would turn on his fellow workers and principles to stay in the money-making game. He wakes at his stop with relief, returning home to a Friday night (Shabbat) banquet with his less-than-perfect but loving family.
The production qualities would be impressive in any off-Broadway offering, much less the Fringe. The stage is alive with movement, but never frenzied or too busy. The talented performers group like characters in a traditional musical to bring us numbers like “Stewed Prunes,” “Go to the Americans,” and “Jingle:Nestle.” Their voices are lovely and polished. In between are one-liners (plus piano chord and a bow), tidbits of homey Jewish wisdom, unexpected self-deprecations, and an awkward first romance. This reconceived “Bronx Express” is easy to love. Perhaps the Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre, co-producer with Hungerproud Theatre Company, will bring it back for a longer run.
“Amerika” is Alexander Poe’s very free adaptation of Kafka’s first novel but if you want doom-and-gloom, or traditional Kafka fare, this isn’t the piece. With its sophisticated Expressionistic minimalistic sets and lighting to its shifting scenes and skillful sound design, “Amerika” is a showcase for a group of impressive young designers (Robert Roberts) and performers. The Kafka figure (Ben Correale) is losing a job he hates but needs and his novel is rejected by his publisher, who advises him to write another book on a hot topic, like America. When Kafka protests he’s never been to America, his publisher, onsoling him, establishes the tone of Redux Theatre Company production: “I don’t want you bogged down in details.”
In America, Kafka discovers the Statue of Liberty holding a sword, is taken in by an eccentric millionaire relative, gets involved with a forbidden woman (Katie Honaker), leaves it all behind to become a busboy in a hotel, and ends by writing himself home again. Since the action is set in Kafka’s imagination, characters are quickly transmogrified into whoever fits the scene. The captain of the ship to America looks very much like Kafka’s father. In between, there are all sorts of little joke, high jinks, and verbal duels. Poe and co-director Joseph Varca founded Redux in 2001 for new plays and innovative adaptations. If first impressions are a guide, they are a company worthy of more benefactors and patrons. The cast was voted an outstanding ensemble – and so they were. [Glenda Frank]
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