As soon as a fact is narrated no longer with a view to acting directly on reality but intransitively, that is to say, finally outside of any function other than that of the very practice of the symbol itself, this disconnection occurs, the voice loses its origin, the author enters into his own death, writing begins.
--Roland Barthes, The Death of the Author (1968)
The TEAM (Theatre of the Emerging American Moment) ensemble defines themselves as "a theatre that does not deny its youth," and there's something -- a lot, actually -- to be said for their embrace of all the various facets that comprise youth: risk taking, transition, and a certain passion unique to those who've not yet receded into the cynicism of having been around slightly longer (or having gone to grad school). It's the facet of finding, and losing, one's identity that plays so profoudly through the company's newest production, Architecting, presented by the National Theatre of Scotland at the Public as part of Under the Radar.
Directed by Rachel Chavkin (who also directed Taylor Mac's brilliant The Lily's Revenge), Architecting navigates the various topographies of a post-Katrina New Orleans, Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind, and the search for one's place in the world. Giving breath to literary text, the play moves from personal to political to pop-cultural narrative, and we are led along primarily by Margaret Michell herself (played with all the sharp coolness of a Southern lady by Jessica Almasy) and a young architect (Libby King) whose development plans for the hurricane-damaged city not only reveal the structural damage of her own interior but resonate throughout a history of fraught North-South relations. Land becomes synonymous to identity, and historical reconstruction leads to self deconstruction.
In Architecting's un- and re-doing of cultural stereotype, the ensemble create a new critical consciousness, one that makes explicit how history doesn't only haunt the structures that remind of times once been but also ambles alongside us in the contemporary moment. The TEAM takes on all the various isms one has come to expect in 21st-century "political theatre" without ever becoming pedantic or preachy. And though they span centuries and ideologies, what could have become a chaotic trip is instead a solid, warm, and, at the risk of becoming pedantic myself, sincere engagement. Part of this is because of the over-the-top good acting that all the TEAM players bring to the stage--Jill Frutkin's bar-crooner-slash-owner-slash-Melanie from GWTW, Kristin Claire Sieh's Scarlett-slash-wannabe Scarlett, and Frank Boyd's Hollywood producer-slash-Ashley-slash-too many others to list all shine, though it was Jake Margolin's 28-year-old retired professor-slash-Mammy-slash-silent Scarlett that most overwhelmed. An equal part is simply the strong writing throughout. One can have a great set design (which Architecting does), great costumes (which it does), and a great concept (again, which it does), but without a strong script, even the best acting can't make a nearly three-hour production (THREE HOUR PRODUCTION) worth watching. And, trust me, it is, no doubt, worth watching. More than once.
My only quibble with the show is less about Architecting itself than a recent gesture in, okay, let's use the term, experimental theatre toward a lack of its own self-awareness. While in some ways this is a perfect structural match for a piece devised upon the conceit of unstable identities, the recent prevalenace of what might be termed a postmodern gesamtkunstwerk--shows that merge theatre with musical theatre with music-theatre with dance with technology with and with and with and call themselves multimedia--risk a genre mashing that is not so much artistic as manic. Which is not to say Architecting suffers this fate. Let me be clear, ARCHITECTING IS GREAT. SUPERB. BRILLIANT. A REALLY, REALLY GOOD SHOW. But, it does exhibit some of these symptoms without ever succumbing to the disease.
Wagner's gesamtkunstwerk was about opera. Yes, he called them music-dramas, but, really, it's about opera. Particularly, his opera. His grand gesture of the art-work of the future was only about his art-work of his future, and how he might--and has succeeded to--haunt opera stages for centuries to come, no matter his problematic at least political positioning. What makes it work is that he, and directors who've latched onto the idea, kind of choose one thing, say, music, or dance/movement, or text, or what have you, and then bring in the rest, or some of the rest, as supplement. This is an important trick to remember. That said, however, part of youth is not only testing but exploding all sorts of boundaries. And Architecting is, indeed, a fabulous and bright explosion.
Photo credit: Yi Zhao
Directed by Rachel Chavkin (who also directed Taylor Mac's brilliant The Lily's Revenge), Architecting navigates the various topographies of a post-Katrina New Orleans, Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind, and the search for one's place in the world. Giving breath to literary text, the play moves from personal to political to pop-cultural narrative, and we are led along primarily by Margaret Michell herself (played with all the sharp coolness of a Southern lady by Jessica Almasy) and a young architect (Libby King) whose development plans for the hurricane-damaged city not only reveal the structural damage of her own interior but resonate throughout a history of fraught North-South relations. Land becomes synonymous to identity, and historical reconstruction leads to self deconstruction.
In Architecting's un- and re-doing of cultural stereotype, the ensemble create a new critical consciousness, one that makes explicit how history doesn't only haunt the structures that remind of times once been but also ambles alongside us in the contemporary moment. The TEAM takes on all the various isms one has come to expect in 21st-century "political theatre" without ever becoming pedantic or preachy. And though they span centuries and ideologies, what could have become a chaotic trip is instead a solid, warm, and, at the risk of becoming pedantic myself, sincere engagement. Part of this is because of the over-the-top good acting that all the TEAM players bring to the stage--Jill Frutkin's bar-crooner-slash-owner-slash-Melanie from GWTW, Kristin Claire Sieh's Scarlett-slash-wannabe Scarlett, and Frank Boyd's Hollywood producer-slash-Ashley-slash-too many others to list all shine, though it was Jake Margolin's 28-year-old retired professor-slash-Mammy-slash-silent Scarlett that most overwhelmed. An equal part is simply the strong writing throughout. One can have a great set design (which Architecting does), great costumes (which it does), and a great concept (again, which it does), but without a strong script, even the best acting can't make a nearly three-hour production (THREE HOUR PRODUCTION) worth watching. And, trust me, it is, no doubt, worth watching. More than once.
My only quibble with the show is less about Architecting itself than a recent gesture in, okay, let's use the term, experimental theatre toward a lack of its own self-awareness. While in some ways this is a perfect structural match for a piece devised upon the conceit of unstable identities, the recent prevalenace of what might be termed a postmodern gesamtkunstwerk--shows that merge theatre with musical theatre with music-theatre with dance with technology with and with and with and call themselves multimedia--risk a genre mashing that is not so much artistic as manic. Which is not to say Architecting suffers this fate. Let me be clear, ARCHITECTING IS GREAT. SUPERB. BRILLIANT. A REALLY, REALLY GOOD SHOW. But, it does exhibit some of these symptoms without ever succumbing to the disease.
Wagner's gesamtkunstwerk was about opera. Yes, he called them music-dramas, but, really, it's about opera. Particularly, his opera. His grand gesture of the art-work of the future was only about his art-work of his future, and how he might--and has succeeded to--haunt opera stages for centuries to come, no matter his problematic at least political positioning. What makes it work is that he, and directors who've latched onto the idea, kind of choose one thing, say, music, or dance/movement, or text, or what have you, and then bring in the rest, or some of the rest, as supplement. This is an important trick to remember. That said, however, part of youth is not only testing but exploding all sorts of boundaries. And Architecting is, indeed, a fabulous and bright explosion.
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