Theatre & Film

More hits than misses for ‘The Furies’

by Dwight Hobbes
An edgy close to a season

by Lydia Howell
Brandon Kuehn @ Argyle Zebra Gallery

by J.P. Johnson

More hits than misses for ‘The Furies’

by Dwight Hobbes

furies.gif (103032 bytes) The Ten Thousand Things Theater Company’s thing is to bring theater to the incarcerated, the shelter-bound and other audiences to whom the art form is an otherworldly concept. On the face of it, this is a wholly laudable concept. Its execution, however, — at least as evinced by the current touring production of “The Furies” — is not so readily assessed as a completely honorable undertaking. It raises stark issues that call for clear-eyed, unflinching examination.
Inarguably, the inmates at Hennepin County Adult Correction Facility for Men saw excellent theater from the production of “The Furies” on Dec. 1. Excerpted and adapted from “The Oresteia,” a trilogy by ancient Greek author Aeschylus, the play is a smartly crafted, adroitly economic depiction of what happens when a ghost implores gods for vengeance on the son who killed her. These gods wind up feuding with other gods and the matter of the original mortal in question is eventually rendered moot.
The cast was a house-deck stacked with nine aces: area legends Barbara Kingsley and Jodi Kellogg; powerhouses Jennifer Blagen and Marie-Francoise Theodore; and fine talents Greta Oglesby, Carolyn Goetzer, Ron Menzel, Luverne Selfert and Matt Sciple. These performers, some to more telling effect; all understand and apply an actor’s stock-in-trade, the ability to unerringly hold character. To see an intermittently wide-eyed Kellogg scamper and scurry about as the priestess to the gods turn cringing flunky is to watch a brilliant actor rescue her role from that of some incidental walk-on to one of interest.
Michelle Hensley’s directing hand is hit-and-miss. She knows how to use space, focusing the action amid the audience with a clever, interactive touch. Pacing is not her strong suit, as she bogs down such behavior as exits with belabored emphasis on incidental events. Overall, she thankfully hits more than she misses.
The problem is that, without unequivocally accusing Ten Thousand Things Theater Company of inventive, arts-funded racketeering cloaked as forward-thinking magnanimity, one does well to note that this production in this setting shows signs of
opportunism — as in take the politically correct money and run on to the next location. Regardless of motives at large, the result in specific is half-baked.
It was well received by 50-odd men, most of whom having lived their lives regularly concerned with more immediate realties, wouldn’t know a Greek tragedy from a Greek salad. The solid round of applause, followed by several guys shaking hands with and congratulating the cast attests to the engaging performances — and the fact they would have happily sat and watched paint dry as along as it broke
up their daily routine behind bars. Thanks to a well-acted, entertaining tale they got the production. With conscientious effort by artistic director Hensley, though, they could’ve got into the show and well might have so raucously cheered as to give the attending guard pause. The identifiable imperative at hand was not to agreeably kill time, but to maximally impact attendees. Toward this end a less than exhausting effort was put forth.
All it would’ve taken was for the adaptation to use contemporary dialogue. Importantly, for the singing interludes, on which Ogelsby shone with an able second by Goetzer and ensemble, instead of a European arrangement best suited to upscale ears, a pop tinge should’ve been employed in accord with proletariat sensibilities. The idea, after all, presumably is to reach the common culturally deprived man and, at corresponding venues, the everyday similarly disadvantaged woman.

An edgy close to a season
by Lydia Howell

cutouttalk_radio_promo.gif (112977 bytes) If directors chose the season, what would theater be like? Bold, intelligent, and provocative is the answer from The Directors Theatre, closing its dynamic debut season with the “anti-holiday” piece, “Talk Radio.” Oliver Stone made the mid-1980s play by Eric Bogosian into a film; however, it’s a work most fully realized in the immediacy of live theater.
The story transpires in the almost-real time of a “Night Talk” broadcast, hosted by verbal dervish Barry Champlain. It’s the night before the show goes national and the edgy excitement propelling the play is damn near physical. Played with high-octane perfection by Alex Cole, Champlain is the centrifugal force of the play.
Bogosian created Champlain based in part on Colorado DJ and inventor of the “shock jock,” Alan Berg. Controversial, blunt, and a kind of progressive Rush Limbaugh, Berg was murdered in 1984 by neo-Nazis. Oliver Stone grafted none of Berg’s biography to the screen, and it’s evident that bringing “Talk Radio” back to its original form restores balance. But more than ever, there is a bull’s-eye skewering of our media-saturated culture, coupled with intriguing character study.
Cole could have made Barry just “a man you love to hate,” but he digs deeper to reveal the man locked inside the public persona. He’s a pinball of emotions, completely unpredictable.
“Barry’s not really angry—there’s angst in this man. The beautiful part is his heart is so good,” said Cole. “Radio in the ’80s didn’t talk about blacks or Jews. But Barry embraces that. He says ‘We WILL talk about it. If you’re a bigot, I WILL call you a bigot.’ I enjoyed that part of the character. He’s fearless. I don’t have Hamlet in me as an actor. I make gritty characters out of myself.”
Cole and director Zachary Curtis have joined forces before, producing
skyscraper scale productions of David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross: and Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
“A lot of the reason people won’t do these plays,” said Curtis of his three collaborations with Cole, “[is that] they’re afraid of them.” Cole played the character of McMurphy, made famous by Jack Nicholson’s screen portrayal. The 1998 production of “Cuckoo’s Nest” was the first stage version since the 1975 film. Curtis and Cole are a creative duo with the guts that drive the current show.
Kudos to a supporting cast that defines the term “ensemble performance.” Bob Mahos is a steady balance for Cole as Barry’s longtime best friend and sound engineer. He’s an anchor to Cole’s electrical storm. Kourtney Kass is perfect in the role of Linda, Barry’s productions assistant and sometime girlfriend. She strikes the perfect role of rueful realism and tenderness. In monologues, different characters reflect on who Barry Champlain is in an effective psychological Rashoman. Andre Samples is a live wire as the caller-turned-live-studio-guest, Kent. He has the kinetic antennas (delivered hilariously) that you remember from those boys smoking dope in the high school parking lot. The entire cast, except for Cole, are amazing with their vocal virtuosity, creating the menageries of “Night Talk” listener-callers.
When you’ve had all the Christmas lights you can stand, the Directors Theatre has an antidote to dazzle. “Talk Radio” runs Thurs. through Sun. through Dec. 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Acadia Café, Nicollet Ave S. and Franklin in Minneapolis. Admission is $8.
For more information call 612-381-1110.



Brandon Kuehn @ Argyle Zebra Gallery

by J.P. Johnson
Kuehn is a man of contrasts. His deep and opposing colors find themselves always at odds on his canvas. Dark and light hues, like lambs and lions, lie down together and create broad distinguishable borders that harshly separate one world from another. The people in these paintings stand poised on the edge of these borders peering out from their world into unknown space that lies dark ahead of them. The figures stand much like little Dorothys, cautiously looking into the ominous woods that begin just outside their safe yellow brick roads. This exhibition entitled “New paintings from MA to MN,” inspired by a recent move, is perhaps a commentary on traveling, uncertain futures and vague destinations. If it is, then the paintings are adventurous warnings and tell how one should be wary and humble when amongst the unfamiliar, for there is no doubt that Kuehn paints a precarious world. One appreciates Kuehn’s work because it is definitive and clean, depicting ethereal landscapes with pleasing characters. However, some may find contention with his abstract paintings because they seem too rigid and his lines stand out, lending some of his art an almost digital feel. Lined up in this show with the featured Kuehn work are some names common to AZ Gallery. Paul Wrench, known for his flat, spooky paintings is showing off some new sculpture while Michaelynn McCarron’s meticulous eye offers up a series of colored pencil drawings. To round out the show Robin Priestley presents new works called “I Become Part of It: Women and Nature.” Her sub-show focuses on women’s calling to and relationship with nature. Priestly has sculpted these clay figures and endowed them with poetry and layers of multimedia accents. Together, these artists exemplify the easy going and free flowing creative energy that can often be found at the AZ. Opens Dec. 7, reception 7-10 p.m. Through Dec. 30. Argyle Zebra Gallery, Northern Warehouse Building, 308 Prince St., Lowertown St. Paul, 651-255-6624. (J. P. Johnson)