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Masthead
A CurtainUp Review
Peerless
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"One hazelnut can be the difference between Life and Death; People who work in food service should know that."— Peerless
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Teresa Avia Lim and Tiffany Villarin (Photo: Joan Marcus)
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L (the Lady Macbeth figure) hangs back a grade, waiting her turn. In cahoots with her twin, M (as the aspiring Macbeth), she manages to neutralize D, the sad-sack student whom "The College" already selected for early admission. "He takes up space that doesn't belong to him," says L, "space that belongs to others." What happens subsequently to L, M and D shall remain a non-spoiler.
The play starts with an extended, very funny duologue between the sisters, their words overlapping, their emotions rising as they face their dilemma. Enter Dirty Girl who looks like all three weird witches in Macbeth. Greeting M with "Hail," she pops up repeatedly to issue doom-laden pronouncements. Also in the mix are BF, M's calming boyfriend and DB, D's lethal brother.
The 80-minute, intermissionless evening belongs as much to director Margot Bordelon and her technical assistants. Bordelon gussies up the script with color, sound, light and an express train pace at pretty much one — loud and frantic — level. Dizzying projections by Shawn Boyle, Christopher Thompson's minimal sets, searing lighting by Oliver Wason, in addition to Sydney Gallas' witty costumes and Sinan Refik Zafar's crushing sound and original music pump up the action.
Teresa Avia Lim as L and Tiffany Villarin as M are terrific, as devious and conniving as the high school kids in the films Election and Heathers. JD Taylor is all-limbs nerdy as D, vicious as DB, while Caroline Neff is wonderfully rancid as Dirty Girl and Christopher Livingston is a sympathetic ear as the underwritten BF.
Peerless trades on our knowledge of the cut-throat ways students contrive to get into the college of their choice. It does so with a mixture of humor and menace, even though its free-flowing, psychedelic effects hinder emotional involvement. Still, as the tension escalates, the underlying nihilism surfaces and we are left to ponder not just two ambitious high-schoolers but a society built on getting ahead at whatever cost.
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Peerless by Jiehae Park Directed by Margot Bordelon CAST: Teresa Avia Lim (L), Christopher Livingston (BF), Caroline Neff (Dirty Girl, Preppy Girl), JD Taylor (DX, DB), Tiffany Villarin (M) Scenic Designer: Christopher Thompson Lighting Designer: Oliver Wason Costume Designer: Sydney Gallas Sound Designer and Original Music: Sinan Refik Zafar Projection Designer: Shawn Boyle Vocal Coach: Walton Wilson Fight Director: Rick Sordelet Movement Director: Fay Simpson Production Dramaturgs: Amy Boratko, Ashley Chang Stage Manager: Victoria Whooper Running time: 80 minutes (no intermission) Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, Conn., Nov. 27-Dec. 19 Reviewed Dec. 3, 2015 |
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Book of Mormon -CD