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Orpheus
By Jenny Sandman
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My love is larger than a keening lament.
/i> ---Orpheus Here, nothing ever really changes.---Persephone |
Taylor Mac and Daphne Gaines
(Photo: Carl Skutsch)
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It seems HERE will go to all lengths to make the evening a memorable one -- and it is. The show is sort of a very solemn cross between The Donkey Show and Cirque du Soleil You ou are presented with a small coin and a tiny honey cake in lieu of a ticket which you hand to a heavily tattooed Goth gentleman with Cerberus emblazoned across his t-shirt. The theatre, which has been remade into a posh nightclub with pseudo-modern furniture, a steel bar, and black walls. Each table sports six pomegranate seeds and strangely dressed creatures offer drinks (one free drink per ticket courtesy of Boru vodka) and other, more disreputable services. It's a gimmicky setup but it fits the nightclub motif. The cocktail waitresses who wear heavily feathered, vaguely S&M, Gaultier-inspired costumes; become the Sirens or backup singers to Persephone. Her shades (Tantalus and others), also in extraordinary costumes, hold court around her, occasionally moving in to become part of the story, at other times hanging back to blend in with the scenery. At key moments flickering home videos are projected to visualize memores of what has been lost. Orpheus (Taylor Mac) and Persephone (Daphne Gaines) have powerhouse voices and sing their hearts out as Eurydice (Leeanne Hutchison) shimmers in the background.
This Orpheus is almost a rock opera, yet it's not quite rock. The live band plays vaguely Mediterranean music, a mix of Balkan, Greek, Texan and rock sounds. Thes faintly exotic melodies make for a most unusual soundscape. As befits the underworld, the songs are lamentations, full of keening and pain. The ensemble dynamic is very strong, and Mac and Gaines have an interesting and mesmeric chemistry. The set design (David Evans Morris) uses the entire space in a very creative way, and the costumes (Liz Bourgeois) are innovatively bewitching, revealing more about the characters than the songs do.
This is an ingenious retelling of an old myth, and it manages be a "New York moment" with its settings, first date kisses on Bow Bridge, eating at One if by Land and snacking at Katz's and the San Gennaro festival. It all adds up to a wonderfully self-referential, cynical "it could only happen in New York" show.
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ORPHEUS Conceived by Juliet Chia, Kristin Marting and David Evans Morris Written by Stephanie Fleishmann Music Composed by Nikos Brisco Directed by Kristin Marting With Taylor Mac, Daphne Gaines, Katy Cunningham, Nina Mankin, Arie Thompson, Scott Blumenthal, Kim Carpenter, Raquel Cion, James Tigger! Ferguson, Leeanne Hutchison, Corey Moosa, Dax Valdes, Rachel Crawford and Tim Pickerill Costume Design by Liz Bourgeois Light Design by Juliet Chia Set Design by David Evans Morris Video by James Scruggs Running time: One hour and thirty minutes with no intermission HERE Arts Center, 145 6th Avenue; 212-868-4444 September 15th through October 9th; Wednesday through Saturday at 9 pm. All tickets $15 Reviewed by Jenny Sandman based on September 22nd performance |
Retold by Tina Packer of Shakespeare & Co.
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