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r > tb f c C 1 l U l N I 2'The Memory Theater of Giulio Camillo':Mystic Theater Bridges Past and Present At AnchorageBY D.E. SCANLANIf it weren%u2019t for the Brooklyn BoroughPresident%u2019s Office and Creative Time, Inc.,the Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage might bejust another shopping mall. Instead, thanksto this exemplary collaboration betweenpolitics and the arts, the cavernous interiorof the monumental structure which securesthe Bridge%u2019s cables has served since 1983 asan inspiring environment for the visual andperforming arts. The current attraction, anunusually ambitious effort to explore thefull potential of the seven-vaulted space, is%u201cThe Memory Theatre of Giulio Camillo%u201dby Matthew Maguire and the Creation Production Company.The show is suited to the Bridge inseveral ways. It was written for the Bridge,it has bridges in it and it%u2019s about bridges %u2014at least metaphorically.Maguire has long been interested in thework of 16th century m ystic Giulio Camillowhose pet project was the construction of atheatre with magical powers. Enter this ingenious structure, Camillo claimed, and youwill find yourself remembering all ofhuman knowledge.The idea of an architectural model ofmemory installed in a bridge seemed anideal prospect to Maguire when he firstvisited the Anchorage in 1984. After all,memory is a bridge between two points intim e. With the help of Creative Time, Inc.,this prospect is now a reality.The piece can be taken two ways: as aplay using the Anchorage for its settingand/or as an art exhibit enlivened by a performance. One of the first things we noticeupon entering %u201cThe Memory Theatre ofGiulio Camillo%u201d is bridges. The permanentbridge which spans the center chamber%u2019sback wall is reflected by an impressivewood and steel drawbridge directlyoverhead. Intimations of other spaces, otherwonders, beckon through the soaringarches.The play begins and the actors, costumedin the style of the commedia dell%u2019arte, guideus through the art and architecture installations which provide the environments fortheir performance. On our feet throughoutthe play, we follow the action from place toplace like the audience at a medievalm ystery play.Sometimes the actors perform behind awaterfall, sometimes in a gigantic suspended camera obscura. Their heads and handspop out of tiny windows. They appear anddisappear in what looks like a large magician%u2019s box. And before we quite catchwhat%u2019s going on a lurking Pulcinella or flirtatious Columbina whisks us efficientlyalong to the next cavern or vault across themoat or into the tunnel to see the nextvignette.Appearing in most of the scenes, lest weforget this prime metaphor for memory, isa model of a bridge.The play is based on some fragments ofmemory from the pen of Giulio Camillo,who is also the chief character. Camillo hasbeen up every night for seven years tryingto remember something %u2014 perhaps amurder he has committed.He is obsessed by a recurrent image: Columbina bopping Arlequino on the head witha m allet. Is this the memory which eludes,____________ U!---O T_ u _ _1--- A At %u00ab Aui puu ouco, m in . ao lb a u u c tu uic u iu iu c i :What could this arbitrary and facetious image possibly mean?As the play progresses we realize thisquestion will not be answered and is pro-%u25a0v%u00bb-'A scene from %u201cThe M em ory Theater of Giulio Cam illo,%u201d perform ed by the Creation Company at the Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage. Writtenand directed by M atthew Maguire, the show was created specifically for the landmark structure. (Bellamy Photo)bably not even being asked. Since there isnothing to look forward to in dramaticterms, the play subsides into thebackground. Art and architecture come tothe fore as we focus more and more on theinstallations of Elizabeth Diller and RicardoScofidio; Joe Fyfel; Laurie Hawkinson;Kristin Jones and Andrew Ginzel; Kit-YinSnyder; Allan Wexler; and Elyn Zimmerman and George Palumbo.In twenty-three moves, the audience isieu buck tutu furiii iuiu cununuaiiy renew edconfrontations with their haunting works.Strikingly costumed, masked, propped, andlit by Helena Carratala, Richard Curtis, andPat Dignan, the actors provide an intriguingkinetic complement to the installations.Each re-encounter with one of the workstakes place against the background ofanother lazzo on the theme of memory.Original music by Vito Ricci completes thetotal-work-of-art effect.In a program note Maguire claims thathis play addresses the crucial issue of%u201cmoral amnesia%u201d in our time. He evenquotes Our Forgetful President to prove hispoint. But Maguire is just bopping us on thei j %u2014sit. ----------------.%u00ab a . -------e %u2014u c a u in p iu it n u n a uicooagc uic p c iiu imance does not deliver. For theater with anunmistakable political content try insteadthe Italian actor-author Dario Fo%u2019s %u201cMisteroBuffo,%u201d now playing at the Joyce Theatre inManhattan. Fo not only tweaks theEstablishment where it hurts but works inan authentic commedia style which is deft,human and funny.$ Better to ignore the tacked-on moralposturing and let %u201cThe Memory Theatre ofGiulio Camillo%u201d do what it does best: provide a lively tour of the fascinating art environment of the Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage.THE MEMORY THEATRE OFn t f ft %u00bbA %u00bb mtrm %u00bb .*-* %u00bb %u00ab %u2022u i c u i v c m m u ju u 1) p c i lUlliiCU v yCreative Time at the Brooklyn BridgeAnchorage, June 19-22, June 25-29,7:30pm. Tickets $6 Wed. & Thurs., $8Fri.-Sun. Information, (212 ) 571-2206June 19, 1986, THE PHOENIX, Page 11