by Georgina Young-Ellis
Modestly tucked away at the back of a garden walkway, the Greek Cultural Center has been bringing great performances to Astoria and the world for more than thirty years. Currently, they are presenting the international premiere of Prime Numbers, an intriguing, avant-garde theater piece by Fulbright Scholarship recipient Gianni Skaragas. Though the play is in English, the Director, Set /Costume and Lighting Designers all hail from Greece. The multi-cultural cast reflects one of the main purposes of the Greek Cultural Center (GCC), as Board President, Demetres Beryeles, expressed, “to blend with the greater community and bring cultures together.”
To summarize the plot, Eddie, the main character, played by Stephen Lundberg, has written a novel about an author trapped in his own work with the characters he’s created. Eddie wakes up after an accident to find himself in a Tijuana motel during a hurricane with an odd collection of individuals: Julietta (Tereza Grimani), an attractive but troubled young pharmacist, Marguerite Gautier (Stacey Salvette), a former torch singer with a likable, cynical edge, Oedipus (Andreas Tselepos), a math genius with a big heart, Medea (Kalliope Koutelos), a transplant from Iraq trying to escape from her anguish, and Cain (Ceasar Nixon), the landlord, a tough guy with a swagger straight out of 1950’s Film Noir. When Eddie finds his lost manuscript, he realizes that the five characters are of his own creation; now he must kill them before they kill him.
Through-out the play, each character exposes some tragic or terrible truth about themselves in a series of well-interspersed monologues. Most notable are the two stories borrowed from the ancient Greeks: Oedipus, complete with complex, who is searching for the tender love he knew with his mother, and Medea, who rails against the country that has wreaked havoc in her own, and who reveals that in her desperate attempt to escape from her Marine husband, has inadvertently killed her children in a car accident. All the actors handle the challenging material with great power and energy while they adeptly change the sets, and control the lighting by use of pull chains attached to overhead lamps.
Projections are used to suggest different locations within the motel, and in order to change the mood. By employing slides and shadows, it seems that Director Fotini Baxevani was trying to suggest experimental film on stage, and did so with success, aided by expert lighting designer Orpheas Emirzas. Petros Sakelliou’s eerie music added to the overall effect.
Prime Numbers is the latest one of hundreds of productions that the Greek Cultural Center, located at 27-18 Hoyt Avenue South, has shared with the world since 1974. Well-known abroad, in many parts of the U.S. and throughout New York State, they are famous for their dance, music and puppetry presentations, as well as the classes they offer in traditional dance from the various geographic areas of Greece, instrumental instruction, and singing workshops led by renowned performer Christos Alexandrou. The center has participated in events in many of the major venues all around New York City and the East Coast, winning numerous, prestigious awards for their work, and, as Program Coordinator Fotis Michelioudakis pointed out, regularly receives invitations to perform at colleges, universities and cultural institutions far and wide.
President Beryeles stressed the charitable work the GCC participates in, such as blood drives and benefits, as the organization strives always to “reach out and help all the people of the community.” He noted that the GCC is about collaboration with everyone, not just within the Greek Community, and that their space is shared with many other cultural and ethnic groups.
Prime Numbers runs until April 5th , Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 and Sundays at 7:00. The Center is a little hard to find, but signs on the sidewalk point you toward a pathway that leads to the basement theater. Tickets are $20.00, or $15.00 for students, seniors and children and can be purchased by calling 718-726-7329 or via e-mail at reservations@greekculturalcenter.org. It is an evening that requires you to think, analyze and explore the depths of human emotion; all in all, a fascinating theatrical foray.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Curious Frog's Theater Co's True West - a Thrilling Experience
by Georgina Young-Ellis
Last summer I made the wondrous discovery of Curious Frog Theater Company when I stumbled upon their production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in Astoria Park. As summer 2009 approaches and I eagerly await this season’s outdoor Romeo and Juliet, I made a point to catch their current offering, True West. Staged in an East Village apartment, the audience is as immersed in the play as the actors. The theater-goers are seated within the set of this Sam Shepard classic, some less than two feet from the rambunctious unfolding of the plot. It is not a complicated one: Two brothers confront each other in their mother’s California suburban home. Austin, played by Alvin Chan, appears to be the level-headed screenwriter. Lee, portrayed by Edward Chin-Lyn, is his twisted, petty-criminal brother. Austin is trying to finish a script for which he has almost secured a deal. Lee barges into his solitude, demanding to borrow Austin’s car so he can go thieving around their mother’s neighborhood while she’s out-of-town. He’s come from spending months in the desert and the first thing on his mind is getting his brother’s car keys while disrupting his peace and concentration in the process. Lee meets Austin’s producer, Saul Kimmer, played by John Gardner, and convinces the man to fund Lee’s own half-baked idea for a Western movie rather than invest in Austin’s project. This infuriates Austin, who considers his brother an idiot, and his frustration drives him to drink. Slowly the tables turn as Austin feels the urge to flee civilization and run away to the desert himself, while Lee, who’s barely literate, much less able to operate a typewriter, struggles to bring his idea to fruition. The situation has devolved into a bread-flinging, typewriter destroying, knock-down, drag-out fight nearly to the death, when Mom walks in, a fragile flower steeped in denial, played by Mami Kimura. She resigns herself to the destruction of her home and leaves her sons to settle their issues. We are left not knowing how it will turn out, only that the two brothers have somehow started to inhabit each other’s insanity.
I had forgotten how funny Sam Shepard could be – this play is possibly one of his most humorous - made even more-so by the brilliance of Chan and Chin-Lyn and their remarkable fraternal chemistry. Though we are laughing, we are terrified by Chin-Lyn’s Lee from the moment he walks in (the entrances were made from the front door of the apartment). His quirky vocal cadence and his continual physical tics fascinate like a train wreck. Chan’s Austin draws us in at the outset with his calm ability to listen and respond to the barbs and ravings from his brother with cool detachment. We admire his patience as he attempts to stay focused on his work – the big brother putting up with the younger, the one that has fallen far short of ever becoming a productive member of society. Yet this younger brother is a physical menace, and our nerves are set on edge as we wonder when he’ll snap. Therefore, it’s even more surprising when it is Austin who snaps first, Chan having so thoroughly established his character as the stable one.
The acting throughout is what we always hope for when we venture out to see theater in New York. We want the best and that’s what we get here. John Gardener’s portrayal of Saul Kimmer is delightfully smarmy. Kimura’s “Mom” floats surreally above the chaos. Because of her bizarrely detached perception of what has happened, we’re almost able to understand why her sons have turned out as they did.
The wonderfully detailed set was designed by David Ogle, with props by Chelsea Chorpenning. Nothing is present on the stage that wouldn’t have existed before 1981 when the action takes place, and the actors make use of it all. The subtle and cleverly placed lighting, designed by Ross Graham, is mostly what would already be inherent in the average home. Sometimes, it’s only candlelight. Every aspect of the production lends itself to the intense realism that is, in essence, Sam Shepard.
The decision of Artistic Director Reneé Rodriguez and Director Isaac Byrne to cast the main characters as Asian was an interesting one, reflecting a racial reality as basically American as the iconic playwright himself. The choice was in keeping with Curious Frog’s mission: “… to present new, modern and classical works with the goal of showing a new, multicultural perspective through non-traditional casting…” In this case, it added another fascinating layer to the timeless script and the actors’ craft.
True West can be seen at 181 Avenue B until May 31st. Tickets are $25.00, Thursday, through Sunday. Wednesdays’ admission is $10.00 cash and a regular-sized loaf of bread. You can make reservations at www.curiousfrog.org. Though its headquarters are in Astoria, with strong ties to the community, Curious Frog seems prepared to go anywhere to bring an excellent caliber of uniquely-envisioned theater to New York City. I urge you to go and have the experience.
Last summer I made the wondrous discovery of Curious Frog Theater Company when I stumbled upon their production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in Astoria Park. As summer 2009 approaches and I eagerly await this season’s outdoor Romeo and Juliet, I made a point to catch their current offering, True West. Staged in an East Village apartment, the audience is as immersed in the play as the actors. The theater-goers are seated within the set of this Sam Shepard classic, some less than two feet from the rambunctious unfolding of the plot. It is not a complicated one: Two brothers confront each other in their mother’s California suburban home. Austin, played by Alvin Chan, appears to be the level-headed screenwriter. Lee, portrayed by Edward Chin-Lyn, is his twisted, petty-criminal brother. Austin is trying to finish a script for which he has almost secured a deal. Lee barges into his solitude, demanding to borrow Austin’s car so he can go thieving around their mother’s neighborhood while she’s out-of-town. He’s come from spending months in the desert and the first thing on his mind is getting his brother’s car keys while disrupting his peace and concentration in the process. Lee meets Austin’s producer, Saul Kimmer, played by John Gardner, and convinces the man to fund Lee’s own half-baked idea for a Western movie rather than invest in Austin’s project. This infuriates Austin, who considers his brother an idiot, and his frustration drives him to drink. Slowly the tables turn as Austin feels the urge to flee civilization and run away to the desert himself, while Lee, who’s barely literate, much less able to operate a typewriter, struggles to bring his idea to fruition. The situation has devolved into a bread-flinging, typewriter destroying, knock-down, drag-out fight nearly to the death, when Mom walks in, a fragile flower steeped in denial, played by Mami Kimura. She resigns herself to the destruction of her home and leaves her sons to settle their issues. We are left not knowing how it will turn out, only that the two brothers have somehow started to inhabit each other’s insanity.
I had forgotten how funny Sam Shepard could be – this play is possibly one of his most humorous - made even more-so by the brilliance of Chan and Chin-Lyn and their remarkable fraternal chemistry. Though we are laughing, we are terrified by Chin-Lyn’s Lee from the moment he walks in (the entrances were made from the front door of the apartment). His quirky vocal cadence and his continual physical tics fascinate like a train wreck. Chan’s Austin draws us in at the outset with his calm ability to listen and respond to the barbs and ravings from his brother with cool detachment. We admire his patience as he attempts to stay focused on his work – the big brother putting up with the younger, the one that has fallen far short of ever becoming a productive member of society. Yet this younger brother is a physical menace, and our nerves are set on edge as we wonder when he’ll snap. Therefore, it’s even more surprising when it is Austin who snaps first, Chan having so thoroughly established his character as the stable one.
The acting throughout is what we always hope for when we venture out to see theater in New York. We want the best and that’s what we get here. John Gardener’s portrayal of Saul Kimmer is delightfully smarmy. Kimura’s “Mom” floats surreally above the chaos. Because of her bizarrely detached perception of what has happened, we’re almost able to understand why her sons have turned out as they did.
The wonderfully detailed set was designed by David Ogle, with props by Chelsea Chorpenning. Nothing is present on the stage that wouldn’t have existed before 1981 when the action takes place, and the actors make use of it all. The subtle and cleverly placed lighting, designed by Ross Graham, is mostly what would already be inherent in the average home. Sometimes, it’s only candlelight. Every aspect of the production lends itself to the intense realism that is, in essence, Sam Shepard.
The decision of Artistic Director Reneé Rodriguez and Director Isaac Byrne to cast the main characters as Asian was an interesting one, reflecting a racial reality as basically American as the iconic playwright himself. The choice was in keeping with Curious Frog’s mission: “… to present new, modern and classical works with the goal of showing a new, multicultural perspective through non-traditional casting…” In this case, it added another fascinating layer to the timeless script and the actors’ craft.
True West can be seen at 181 Avenue B until May 31st. Tickets are $25.00, Thursday, through Sunday. Wednesdays’ admission is $10.00 cash and a regular-sized loaf of bread. You can make reservations at www.curiousfrog.org. Though its headquarters are in Astoria, with strong ties to the community, Curious Frog seems prepared to go anywhere to bring an excellent caliber of uniquely-envisioned theater to New York City. I urge you to go and have the experience.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)