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A CurtainUp Review
Emergence-SEE!


And I'm emerging from a deep sleep - see -
I'm in a state of emergence - see -
And as I emerge I seeā€¦ my missing peace has always been inside of me
>
— ---Rodney
<
Daniel Beaty  in Emergence-See!
Daniel Beaty in Emergence-See! (Photo: Michael Daniel)
Though only 80 minutes long, Daniel Beaty's Emergence-SEE contains enough characters, ideas, ambition and poetry to fill a performance twice its length. The production at the Public Theater bears some resemblance to both Bridge and Tunnel(CurtainUp Review) and The Blue Door (bluedoor.html>CurtainUp Review). Like Bridge and Tunnel, this is a solo performance that uses slam poetry for much of its emotional force. Like The Blue Door it is a study on just how slavery still affects America, in this case dramatized via the sudden appearance of a slave ship in the harbor next to the Statue of Liberty.

Playwright/performer Beaty takes on forty different roles, each of them reacting in one way or another to the mysterious events happening at Liberty Island. He emerges as everything from a homeless man outside Central Park, to a HIV-positive young girl, to an African tribal chief on a slave ship, to a lawyer advocating reparations for slavery.

Central to the story is a black family consisting of two brothers, Rodney and Freddie, and their father, Reginald. When Reginald, a college professor, climbs onto the slave ship the central question of the play becomes why he did it, and how it will affect his sons —as well as everyone else onstage. Take these characters' stories and add the simultaneously happening poetry slam competition and you've got one high-energy, jam-packed performance.

Director Kenny Leon makes full use of set designer Beowulf Boritt's gorgeous and evocative set, a series of slanted planks reminiscent of a shipwreck. Leon's staging helps separate the characters and clarify the script's meaning, but it's Beaty's performance that carries the positive, appealing energy from one character to the next. His ability to mimic so many different characters is remarkable — with each character given individualized accents to facial tics. Even more impressive , is Beaty's deftness at both writing and performing slam poetry. He wraps his voice around these vibrant, intricate poems with charismatic full of life intensity.

Beaty isn't quite as adept at crafting the play itself. It's as if he's overwhelmed by the sheer volume of ideas and characters he puts on stage. A lot of the characters feel peripheral and d slow the momentum of the plot points. But Beaty's real problem is that many of his plot contrivances just don't make sense. Considering that his play has no aspirations to be realistic, the poetry slam café competition seems an unnecessary framework for the poetry slams. The situations created to prevent Rodney and Freddie from getting to their father also seem contrived. Had Beaty just trusted his unrealistic setup, Emergence-SEE! would probably be a lot more fluid and powerful.

While this piece is too scattershot and uneven to really take off as a play, as a series of poetry slams and astute impersonations, Emergence-SEE!> is unabashedly successful — funny, thoughtful, evocative and moving.

EMERGENCE-SEE
Playwright: Daniel Beaty
Directed by Kenny Leon
Cast: Daniel Beaty
Set Design: Beowulf Boritt
Costume Design: Reggie Ray
Lighting Design: Michael Chybowski
Sound Design: Drew Levy and Tony Smolenski IV

Running time: 80 minutes, no intermission
From October 10 to November 12, 2006--extended to November 19th, opening October 22
Performance schedule Tues @ 7pm, Wednesday to Sat @ 8pm, Sun @ 3 and 8pm (with Saturday matinee on 10/28)
Tickets: $50; Limited number of $20 rush tickets available one hour prior to curtain (limit two per person); Student tickets $25, available at the box office in advance (limit one per person)
Reviewed by Julia Furay based on October 21 performance
broadway musicals: the 101 greatest shows of all time
Easy-on-the budget super gift for yourself and your musical loving friends. Tons of gorgeous pictures.


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©Copyright 2006, Elyse Sommer.
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