Page 709 - Demo

PKsHMIXBACA Downtown's Fringe Series Has Material To Push Local Performers To Limit And BeyondBY ARTHUR EROEBERPeople interested in the direction ofmodern theater can%u2019t do much better thanto set aside six weekends from now toMarch to sample BACA Downtown%u2019s FringeSeries of new plays, now in its second year.BACA artistic director Greta Gundersensays the series aims to test the boundariesof contemporary theater in a variety ofways, both in form and content. The sixproductions, each of which will run for fourperformances over two weekends, run thegamut from naturalistic portrayals ofhuman relationships to extravagant collaborative efforts combining music, dance,theater and performance art.The series opened over the past twoweekends with %u201cMink Sonata,%u201d Brooklynplaywright Allan Havis%u2019s intriguing exploration of a father-daughter relationship. In aseries of short scenes Havis constructs aportrait of a powerful, domineering NewYork political consultant with at least apsychologically incestuous relationship tohis only daughter, a gifted cellist.Havis teases the audience with the ideathat the father%u2019s self-assured youngmistress may simply be the alter-ego of thenearly psychotic daughter, and it is in thetantalizing play of this conceit that the interest of Havis%u2019 drama lies.A PLAY OF POSSIBILITIESThe characters %u2014 and in particular thefather %u2014 aren%u2019t fully or intensely enoughdrawn to create the kind of emotional impact you might expect from this material,but the moral and psychological implications of the father%u2019s thoughtless manipulation of his daughter are well enough suggested to leave the viewer with somethingto think about at the end of the evening. It%u2019sa play of possibilities, which are posed withneat ambiguity but not often enoughdeveloped with sufficient force.But for all its drawbacks, %u201cMink Sonata%u201dis challenging, intelligent theater thatdemands an intellectual as well as an emotional response from its audience, and ast_a u c a u w o o c u t u u o p i t i u u o u i a u g t a c u i u i u i cFringe Series.Next in the series is %u201cCleveland,%u201d a%u201cscience fiction fable%u201d by Mac Wellman, apoet and playwright who was born inCleveland and now lives in Park Slope.Wellman%u2019s work is the first of severalrelatively undescribable performances inthe series. %u201cThe intent,%u201d said Wellman in arecent interview, %u201cis to render a portrait ofa world that is increasingly becomingunreal, even in its own terms.%u201dAccordingly, the setting is down-to-earth%u2014 a Cleveland suburb %u2014 but the treatmentis reportedly fanciful and imaginative.Wellman says his primary concern is%u201cwith improving the quality of language intheater,%u201d and linguistic games and takeoffsfigure prominently in %u201cCleveland,%u201d withjargon and invented language used tounderscore the confusion of modem society.%u201cCleveland%u201d will be directed by AnnBogart and will be performed October 3,4,10 and 11.%u2018OKEE-LA-HOMA%u2019 IS NEXTIt will be followed by a high-spirited collaborative work, %u201cOkee-La-Homa.%u201d Asatiric takeoff on the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical %u201cOklahoma,%u201d it%u2019s derivedfrom a conception of Jim Calder and AndreBaer, with text by Bill Pope L. and musicalarrangements by Tom Miller. BACA aficionados may recall it from a scaled-downversion presented in last year%u2019s Performers%u2019Showcase series.Though not primarily intellectual in theirapproach, the collaborators have taken thetheory of deconstruction to its logical extent%u2014 in one scene the set is disassembled witha huge powersaw and then put backtogether in the form of a gigantic rockingchair.%u201cOkee-La-Homa%u201d will be performed October 24,25, and 31 and November 1, andwill be directed by Jim Calder and Joe DalyDeconstruction will continue apace with%u201cChaos in Order,%u201d a comedy that ManhatJo an M a c in to s h (le ft) an d E lz b ie taC z y z e w s k a s ta r in M a c W e llm a n %u2019s%u201c C le v e la n d %u201d a t B A C A D o w n to w n (Y o la n d aG e rrits e n P h o to )tan author Craig Gholson describes as %u201cakitchen-sink drama composed in aCuisinart.%u201dBacking off a little, Gholson conceded, %u201cIthink of it as a very straightforward play.It%u2019s about two people that are boundtogether, and their choice of whether toseparate.%u201d Of course it isn%u2019t that straightforward, as the two people are Siamesetwins.Although he stresses the importance ofthe sets and visual imagery that will becontributed by photographer JimmyDeSana, Gholson is critical of the strongorientation towards visual imagery that hasdominated certain regions of experimentaltheater under the influence of performanceart. He interpreted as a positive step director Robert Wilson%u2019s collaboration last springwith East German actor-playwright HeinerMuller on %u201cHamletmachine,%u201d performed atNYU.%u201cChaos in Order,%u201d will be performedNovember 14,15, 21 and 22 and will bedirected by Mary F. Monroe.The series will return to a morenaturalistic mode in January with Black%u00bb1F----------J- WH-------A----%u00bb-----------1__f /-%u00ab i HWiucu ill m c a iu a p i v a iu lu u ii ui UUCUIlSinnette Jennings%u2019 %u201cHarmattan,%u201d a tale ofblack relationships on two continents.The play%u2019s settings, in Africa and NewYork, reflect Jenning%u2019s own peripateticbackground. Bom in New York, she went toNigeria at the age of 15 and studied forthree years there before returning to theU.S. and Bennington College. After workingwith Herbert Berghoff and LaMama shewent to NYU School of the Arts, and leftagain in 1982 to be a consultant to theNigerian Television Authority. Jennings nowlives in Maryland.%u201cHarmattan%u201d focuses on the cultural andemotional conflicts between an African manand his black American wife, both in therepressive atmosphere of an African country and in New York. The play will markthe second appearance at BACA of theBlack Women in Theater company, whichperformed %u201cThe Actress%u201d last February.%u201cHarmattan%u201d will be performed January30 and 31 and February 6 and 7.The series will come to a familiar closewith %u201cDecodance,%u201d by the Adaptors Movement Theatre, BACA Downtown%u2019s residenttheater company.Gundersen describes Decodance as %u201cadecadent masked ball in full bloom%u201d thatsatirizes the %u201cblood-sucking crassness ofAmerican culture%u201d by following the anticsof a pair of vampires. The evening will be aseries of interrelated sketches, drawing onelements of music, video, cabaret, anddance to create a stylized and refracted vision of American culture. The cast will alsoinclude 101 dalmatians.%u201cDecodance,%u201d conceived by KariMargolis and Tony Brown, will be performed March 13,14,20 and 21 and will include music by Neil Alexander and CharlesHaynes.FRINGE SERIES: All events at BACADowntown, 111 Willoughby St. Performances begin at 8pm; tickets are |8 orTDF pins $3. For more information, call596-2222.The Palm Galleryp w mSix PaintingstiySusan EdgarEllen G am bleAllen G rindleSeptember 6-28. 1986408 Atlantic Avenue at Bond Street Brooklyn New ttxk 11217718* 24-7091Representing Contemporary Artists in All MediaSat & Sun 12-6 or by appointmentBrooklyn HeightsAntiques & CollectiblesSALEFri.Sept.26 10am-8pmSat. Sept. 27 10am-8pmSun. Sept. 28 10am-7pmPatch-work quiltsDolls (and accessories)Clothing %u2022 Bric-a-brac %u2022 JewelryPaintings %u2022 Prints %u2022 Toys %u2022 BooksMagazines %u2022 Postcards %u2022 NewspapersAm ericana %u2022 Records %u2022 PhotographicaMovie and Theater M em orabiliaCom ic Books %u2022 Baseball CardsBlack Am ericana %u2022 Sheet MusicChildren%u2019s Illustrated Books %u2022 Maps$2.00 AdmissionST. ANN CENTER t ------ a ________f i i %u2014 m t t t ,a- // m o in a ^ u c vJi. * u i u y i i n i S .For information call718-452-7725 or 834-8794Park Slope Artists %u2022 Open* StudiesSEPT.17%u00abh-28 7 6 8 -7 4 0 7' T rt - Brooklyn, NY ^ GeA m m o A r t ist sExhibition SpaceOpening ShowSunday, October 19%u201cSAY CHEESE%u201dFILMSAt Grace ChurchSunday Evenings at 7 p.m.Classics %u2022 Next Wave VideoForeign %u2022 Shorts %u2022 Comedy %u2022 MusicalsOPEN TO THE PUBLICDonations Accepted to Defray Expenses254 H icks Street(comer Joralemon & Hicks)624-1850BELANTHI GALLERY8th Anniversary ExhibitionReceptionThursday, October 2nd 6pm-midnight135 Plvmouth StreetBrooklyn, NY 11201(718) 8584900BELANTHI GALLERY142 Court Street 855-2769S e p te m b e r 25, 1 9 8 6 , T H E P H O E N IX /S E C T IO N 2, P ag e 31