February 19, 1993

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Page 23

Entertainment

Two African American plays merit attention

A Rat's Mass

by Adrienne Kennedy the life of a worm by k.j. warren

Cleveland Public Theatre Through February 28

Reviewed by Barry Daniels

The double bill of one-act plays by African Americans, directed by Caroline JacksonSmith, at the Cleveland Public Theatre includes Adrienne Kennedy's A Rat's Mass, written in 1965, and the first fully-staged production of local author k.j. warren's the life of a worm. warren has acknowledged being influenced by Kennedy, and it is useful to compare these two works that are chronologically separated by almost 25 years.

Kennedy's A Rat's Mass is a dense, poetic piece, very much of its period. It is filled with discordant images that cluster around themes of incest, madness, the oppressive nature of religion and the obsessive quality

of its ceremony; and war and Nazism, which evokes racism in its most extreme form. We are in a nightmare world of two African American children and their white friend (ably performed by Kelli Dawanne Hancock, Yusef N'Dour, and Rosemary Jane Vrobel). Kennedy's lush language draws us into this nightmare.

The problem I had with Jackson-Smith's staging of A Rat's Mass was its literalness. The vaulted set by Blake Ketchum with a rat crucifix above the altar and mannerist religious figures poised at the wings is actually a rather banal image closer to Gothic horror than Kennedy's world. The busy lighting seems simply arbitrary. The actors try to internalize the language and make it "real" even as they make the transition from humanness to ratness. In the 1960s actors sought ways to allow language like Kennedy's its full poetic power and range. In the CPT production the actors' goal seems to be to master the text rather than letting the text master them.

k.j. warren's the life of a worm is much more effectively realized. It is staged with precision by Jackson-Smith and well acted by Marvin Hayes as Malcolm and Yusef N' Dour as Edge. Edge, a poet, has returned home after a six year absence and finds his father living in squalor. His mother is absent or, perhaps, dead as Malcolm claims to have buried her in the rose garden. Gradually, and elliptically, we can piece together Malcolm's version of what has happened. We are in the realm of the traditional American family drama: unhappy marriage kept together for the sake of the child; mother's escape and return. warren's manner, however, is closer to the Sam Shepard of Buried Child than simple kitchen-sink realism.

The influence of Kennedy is present in warren's language which, although based in

a kind of realism, is allusive and poetic in a way that effectively puts us in touch with the dark inner qualities of the world he portrays. The father is a fully realized and fascinating

character. It is a weakness of the dramaturgy that the son is hardly developed and, more often than not, seems to exist to allow the father's story to be told. warren is clearly a gifted writer, however, and one of the strongest voices to emerge from the African American community in the region.

In spite of my reservations about the staging of A Rat's Mass, it remains interesting to view and compare the two plays. If Kennedy's play seems to come from the past, warren's is very much from the present and both playwrights merit our attention. The two plays are joined by a pas de deux, "Mystery of Love," beautifully danced by Tanya Dionne Haithcock and Jacques Henri Taylor and choreographed by Adenike Sharpley.

Performances continue through February 28, Thursday through Saturday at 8 pm; Sunday at 3 pm. Tickets are $10; $6 for students and seniors; $4 Thursday. Call 6312727 for reservations.

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Art and life: Love and music

Once in a While the

Odd Thing Happens

by Paul Godfrey

The Working Theatre (at Spaces) Through February 28

Reviewed by Barry Daniels

The Working Theatre production of Paul Godfrey's Once in a While the Odd Thing Happens is a poetic meditation on art and love. The play tells the story of the early career of the preeminent British composer, Benjamin Britten, and describes the beginning of his love affair with the tenor Peter Pears. Their relationship lasted a lifetime and was one of the great creative partnerships of our times.

Godfrey's poetry is spare; his structure creates the effect of a mosaic. There are fifteen scenes in each of the three acts. Each scene creates a distinct color in the complex pattern of the artistic and emotional issues that were at the center of Britten's life from the 1930s up to the premiere of his first opera, Peter Grimes, in 1945.

Act I, set in England in the 1930s, introduces us to Britten, who is seeking to define his unique voice, and his collaborator, the poet, W.H. Auden. In their scenes together Godfrey deftly evokes the aesthetic atmosphere of the period. Britten's meeting with Pears and their subsequent friendship is handled sensitively. Act II takes the three men to America just before the Second World War. Auden's bohemian American period is amusingly drawn, but the key scenes in the act are between Britten and Pears. Their friendship turns into love; each man realizes his artistic self in the other. They return to England where Britten undertakes the composition of his first opera. The aesthetic and the personal are one, as the following exchange illustrates:

Pears: I've found my voice now. Britten: There's little I could tell to represent my feelings.

I hear your voice singing in my mind. It inspires me:

I construct music around that. I put it at the center of everything. Pears: I give you my breath.

Directors Amanda Shaffer and Walter E. Grodzick have elegantly staged this poetic text. They have wisely chosen to create a small theatre, seating only fifty people, at the back of the Spaces Gallery. The set consists of an unpainted wooden platform behind which is a framed rectangular canvas on which a Tiepolo blue sky with clouds is

་

painted. Props are kept to a minimum: a piano, a small table and chair, a bowl of fruit, and music scores. It is an environment that leaves space for the poetry of the text and the performances of the principal actors.

Grodzick and Shaffer have succeeded in drawing rich and nuanced characterizations from their extremely young cast. Brian Pedaci's Auden is a nicely drawn portrait of the acerbic and self-mocking poet. His scenes are often immensely comic, although he's never a fool. Pedaci never trivializes the character and does an excellent job in his more serious final confrontation with Britten in Act III. Michelle Gullion does well with the role of Beth, Britten's sister, who is mildly reproachful of her brother's homosexuality. Her realization, in Act III, of the failure of her own marriage and acceptance and respect for her brother's choice is movingly portrayed. Charlton B. Gavitt has a small but important part as a representative of the opera company chorus. The realization that he is voicing the company's homophobia caused the audience to gasp. Unfortunately Carla Petroski, as the mindless, American, artist-groupie, is unable to distinguish between playing a crude character and playing crudely. Her performance is the only major flaw in this production.

The performances of John P. Monroe as Britten and Duane Noch as Pears are remarkable. Monroe convinces us of Britten's sincerity as an artist, thus making the aesthetic discussions compelling: we believe with him that something important is at stake. Noch plays the more reserved Pears with great subtlety and warmth. Their love scenes are tender, full of wonder and joy at the beginning, later colored with the mature happiness the two have found in their lives together and in their artistic collaboration.

It is difficult to describe the subtlety and delicacy of the textures of Godfrey's text. It is a great credit to the directors and the cast that the central narrative engages us both intellectually and emotionally. Although I might have wanted the staging to reflect a more subtle sense of the rhythmic structure of the text, the production succeeds through the conviction and intensity of the acting. It is a joy to see the love between Britten and Pears celebrated with such eloquence and honesty. Although it is rarely heard in the course of the play, Britten's music is always present in the space between the lovers.

Performances continue through February 28th, Thursday through Saturday at 8 pm; Sunday at 3 pm. Tickets are $10 or $7.50.

Spaces is at 2220 Superior Viaduct. Call 696-9600 for reservations.

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