Theatre
& Film
A super chick hatched in
‘Cowbird’ |
by Elizabeth Weir |
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 W ho would have believed that within the admirable
Sally Wingert, doyenne of Twin Cities theater, lurks a first class tart? In Julie Marie
Myatt’s brand new play, “Cowbird,” at Eye of the Storm Theatre, Wingert
entices, with a pink tongue touched knowingly to an incisor, flirts her bosom and wags her
bum, just like any broad open to a quick lay.
Wingert plays Lorna, an attractive, fast-tongued, martini-swigging woman, who keeps the
details of her intermittent stays in other cities secret. But when young people turn up at
her door armed with birth certificates that include her name, she is forced to confront
her life, and even to open a small chink in her brassy armor.
Lorna leaps into vital life on stage because Wingert so completely fills the shapely role
and because playwright Myatt has written into being a complex and likeable woman; her
decisions might appall us, but her hidden vulnerabilities make us feel for her, and her
one-line zingers make us roar.
Myatt invests Michael, another jewel role and the first young man to pitch into Lorna's
world, with similarly convincing life. In virtuoso acting, Casey Greig finds all the
lights, colors and shadows of the damaged young Michael. Every time I see Greig on stage,
he shines brighter and brighter.
Michael closes the play in a fragile but tender moment, and Greig nails the emotional
truth in Myatt’s overly long nursery-tale ending, but it’s as clunky
as—well—a cowbird egg in warbler’s nest. Myatt might strengthen
“Cowbird” by trimming the tip of its tail.
Claudia Wilkins delights as Maggie, Lorna’s lonely and overtly nosy neighbor. Her
prying into Lorna's secretive life gets her nowhere, and she resorts to
“America’s Most Wanted,” certain that the TV show will one day reveal the
shadowy life of her baffling upstairs lodger. Wilkins has such a superb stage presence
that we long for more of her than Maggie’s delectable but supporting-character role
allows.
Terry Bellamy as Bert, Lorna’s loyal lover, and young Eric Sumangil and Briana
Kennedy-Coker as her offspring round out “Cowbird’s” strong cast.
Fine though the acting is, “Cowbird” lacks pace in its early scenes. On opening
night, I could sense the packed audience willing the play forward, but it will no doubt
find its rhythm as it settles into its month-long run.
The play flips from scene to scene in quick succession and director Casey Stangle solves
the problem of multiple settings by staging the action on Nayna Ramey’s elegantly
conceptual set. Built in horizontal and vertical planes, the set hints at unknown figures
in the background, suggests the rugged coast line of California, and serves as a bar, an
apartment, a beach, both the inside hallway and the outside of Lorna’s apartment door
and a hospital room. Andrew Mayer’s clever lighting and Jared Paul Grohs’ sound
design ensure that we never miss a beat as we follow the shifting action.
Go and fly with this “Cowbird;” you’ll be amused, scandalized and
heartened. “Cowbird” runs through Mar. 17 at the Mpls. Theatre Garage on the
corner of Franklin and Lyndale. Call 612-728-5859 for more information. pulse |
‘Monster’s
Ball’ well-formed
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| by Brian Orndorf If not entirely perfect or dramatically
sound, Marc Forster’s “Monster’s Ball” is easily the most surprising
and humane film of 2001. Kind of a “Dead Man Walking” meets “Jungle
Fever,” “Ball” is that infrequent film that serves as a potent reminder
just how unexpected cinema can still be.
Hank (Billy Bob Thornton) is a thickly southern corrections officer living in Georgia with
his racist and dying father Buck (Peter Boyle), and his spineless offspring/co-worker
Sonny (Heath Ledger). Overseeing the final days of a convicted criminal sentenced to death
(Sean Combs), Hank is forced to deal with Sonny’s inability to carry out his job, and
the effect Buck’s racism has on Hank’s judgment. Through an ugly coincidence,
Hank meets Leticia (Halle Berry), a poor African-American mother who just so happens to be
the less-than-grieving widow of the convict. Hank and Leticia take up a tentative romance,
which in turn changes Leticia’s fortunes and Hank’s outlook on his dark life.
To Marc Forster’s credit, “Monster’s Ball” never succumbs to the
rather easy coincidences that screenwriters Milo Addica and Will Rokos come up with for
their characters. Forster has much more faith in his film, and for every Hollywood type
twist, he backs it up with honesty and a sincere heart. A rather deftly put together
picture (this is Forster’s second film), “Monster’s Ball” uses these
left turns in the narrative to shock the audience into submission. It leaves
“Ball” with a lovely unpredictable quality that never quite exits the film, even
in the end. You end up glued to your seat, as if anything could happen to anyone, and you
don’t want to miss one frame.
Forster also doesn’t flinch in addressing Buck’s bigotry. To hear Buck’s
unpleasant outlook on life chilled me to the core. The filmmakers get off lightly by
setting the film in the south, but that doesn’t tarnish the power of both Peter
Boyle’s performance as the aging racist (completely recalling his work in the
landmark film “Joe”) and Forster’s unwillingness to water the character
down.
“Monster’s Ball” is thankfully a good representation of what Halle Berry
can give to the screen. Taking away her familiar glamour and beaming good looks, Berry is
forced to fight her way through this character tooth and nail. It’s a heartbreaking
performance, mixed with some parental brutality and a dash of raw sexuality. However,
it’s in this sexuality that Berry falters.
Much will be made of a mid-movie sex scene between Leticia and Hank. The scene is both
shockingly explicit and invigoratingly real. Yet to get to this scene—in which Berry
takes a wrong turn with some overacting, and we clearly see the seams of her performance.
Billy Bob Thornton is back to his old southern self in “Monster’s Ball.” A
contemplative, emotional performance, this is the best I have ever seen Thornton. A raw
nerve of doubt and self-loathing, Thornton elevates the film and everyone around him (his
interplay with Ledger are the film’s best moments) with his outstanding performance. |
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