New Production - Play Without Words

[Guest rohale]

Choreographer-director Matthew Bourne has been British Theater's it boy for some years, and his radically reimagined works such as the all male " Swan Lake ", a World War II period " Cinderella ", offbeat takes on " Carmen " and offcourse " The Nutcracker " are by now somewhat familiar to most audiences. By now, we know the bad-boy Brit's favourite tricks and obsessions, which is why I personally thought his latest effort " Play Without Words " was a bit of a disappointment.

 

I had the chance to see this production earlier this evening at the Ahmason Theatre in Los Angeles. This frentic amalgam of period dance, sweat sexual politics, and offcourse a healthy dosage of homoeroticism has it's powerful moments, but unfortunately there is an inescapable quality of deja vu to the evening. The bad boy seems to be repeating himself - and this time he seems to be missing the point, too.

 

Bourne uses " The Servant " , Joseph Losey's gritty 1963 film about powerful relationships between the classes, as his inspiration. The film's hard-edge and offcourse humourless cynicism places it squarely within the realm of British cinema's socialist period. Bourne seems quite keen in the gaudy trappings of mod-era London than the dark assessment of class conflict in Harold Pinter's screenplay.

 

The plot remains essentially the same. An indolent young man of means named Anthony rents a swank Chelsea townhouse adn hiresa a cryptic manservant, Prentice, who proceeds to play a delicate game of pyschosexual chess with his outmatched young master and his pretty fiance. With the help of a housemaid and a mysterious, roguish friend, the servant gradually turns the tables on the bespectacled upper-class twit. The tale ends with a sexual roundelay in which the opposed classes cast off their inhibitions and their clothes ( eye dropping moment ) and the master, in effect, abdicates his power.

 

Bourne's world is the product of a stylistic fetish who fixates on some details, whilst ignoring others. Lez Brotherston's set is a skewered perspective look at 60's London, with all it's famous monuments and visual talismans. The usual, Big Ben, Red Police Boxes and all compressed into a fun house jumble onstage. I was thinking this earlier, it's so reminiscent of Ian MacNeil's design for " An Inspector Calls " and virtually telegraphs the same message.

 

Unfortunatley there was something missing to the grand design. " Play Without Words " was originally produced by London's National Theater. Bourne triple casts all the major roles with the exception fo Sheila, the housemaid, who is played by two performers. The result is undeniably effective at times. There is one particular scene that sounds out in my mind in which one Anthony ( remember the triple cast ) is fastidiously dressed by Prentice, while another is just as painstakingly dressed is a small masterpiece of physical comedy and sly sexual innuendo.

 

However, but often this parallel universe approach undermines the clarity of the story. The audience is frequently forced to split the focus among various versions of a scene - sometimes strikingly different from one another, unfortunately sometimes very similar. Bourne's frentic and often-pedestrian choreography doesn't help matters. His movement vocabulary encompasses a wealth of resources. from sexy British social dancing to the now cheesy hyperextensions of Jerome Robbins and the kinetic, angular language of Twyla Tharp ( a damn sexy thing she is ), but it's undisciplined and sometimes fights with itself.

 

To be fair, when Bourne clears the deck and presents the audience with a single, extended scene to watch, it's like a breath of fresh air. Late in the story Anthony and Sheila engage in a languorous, leggy pas de faux of seduction on a kitchen table. It's an engrossing moment filled with layers of import about desire, loyalty and the transgression of social barriers.

 

Such passages end the argument about whether Matthew Bourne's works are theater or dance. Clearly in this production, choreography tells a story- something ballet has been doing from it's French court beginnings through Balanchine to Bausch. What's the big deal? Mums the word for me. Instead I'm going to let somebody else have a go and answer this question for a change.

 

Bourne's multiple casting makes it difficult to distinguish one performance from another, and he goes to great lengths to make all performers, playing each role and look the same. There were standouts earlier this evening. Among them was the delightful Scott Ambler as one of three incarnations of Prentice. With his poker face and constrained movements. He instantly reminded me of how uncannily he looked like the film's servant, who was played by the magnificent screen legend Dirk Bogarde. In the kitchen duet, Sam Archer and Valentina Formenti delivered a scorching, often hilarious arabesque of awkard foreplay ( Sam reminded me so much of the suaveness of the late Michael Hutchence of Austrialias sensational music group INXS ).

 

One of highlights of " Play Without Words " is Terry Davies magnificent score. Played by an onstage ensemble, it perfectly captures the yearning, of mid-60's jazz ( A style with a particular affinity to social-realist films of the period. The action begins with a lone trumpet player etching a haunting Chet Baker-style solo at the apex of the double staircase that dominates Brotherston's set. It's an electrifying curtain-raiser, filled with the promise of grim probity that Losey's film richly delivers-and Bourne's interpretaion largely ignores.

 

As a totality, I felt I got my money's worth, the one thing that did bother me is, American productions tend to focus on pyrotechnics and flash and less on performances. Whilst British productions tend to focus more on the individual performances and less on visuals. With this thought in mind, I felt that Matthew Bourne could have done just exactly that. I felt the performances could have been much stronger that they were. I remember years and years ago, an English actor in the form of the late great Jon Pertwee once made a remark about actors and acting in general. He asked how do performers illicit themselves from one to another. He felt what defines the success of a performance more than anything else is the movement of the eyes and mouth. Jon felt that this approach conveys a performance to be convincing and succesful. To those who might be interested, a little backdrop on his career. He started with the likes of Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and offcourse Bernard Cribbins. I always felt that Jon glittered on screen. In his day, Jon was a marvelous actor. Anways I felt that " Play Without Words " could have heeded Jon Pertwee's expressionism of the movement of the eyes and mouth. The production which had a wonderful cast definitely need more focus on the emotional side of acting.

 

Still, afterall not everyone can be pleased or be so analytical, for most attendees, they'll get their money' worth.

 

Rohale

[bigguyinpasadena]

I saw Play Without Words-it coulda used some words!

Saw this on Sat night.The first act was trite,and with the exception of the dressing scene(which only used two of the three master/servant couples as a shadowed pas de deux)was nothing we have not seen from Bourne before.

The second act was a little better,but still not great.

My main gripe was the stage was so cluttered that Bourne sacrafices dance to set design.Also the 3 sets of Master/Servants do not give us different takes on the situation-which the notes tell us is the point of this.As they do not do what they are supposed to do they are just mere clutter.

The whole thing came off as second rate Jerome Robbins to me.

The Davies Jazz score was great.

[Guest Jocoluver]

Fascinating! Thanks, guys.

 

I have a date with a gorgeous muscle hunk next week to see "Play without Words". I am unsure how he and I will take to it.

 

To me, Bourne's "Swan Lake" (especially the ballroom scene) is one of the highest points of my long theater-going career. His "Car Men" and "Cinderella" were memorable only for being forgettable. A friend saw "Play without Words" in NY and thought it was "20 times better than Swan Lake"(!) ("Swan Lake" will return to LA later in the season for a 2-week engagement.)

 

(As a minor note about acting with eyes, expressions, etc.: The Ahmanson is such a huge venue that most patrons can barely see the eyes or facial expressions. I do have prime house seats, so I am forewarned.)

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[+ Lucky]

RE: Swan Lake on Speed

 

The Australian Dance Company last week did Swan Lake on speed at UCSD. It was really good too! The performance was done to techno music with acrobatics, breakdancing, and gymnastics. Great choreography and hot dancers. They even had the homoerotic implications brought out by Bourne in his great show.

 

The show, called Birdbrain, has been going around for a couple of years now. See it if you can. And, see it with a friend!