Dual Citizens
I caught the closing night performance of what is actually two Growtowsky-type, European-style plays that have already toured the Continent extensively. For those willing to explore a different culture of theatre, this will be a satisfying evening.
The first piece, Broken Nails: A Marlene Dietrich Dialogue, (written and performed by Anna Skubik,) may have been brilliant, but I have no way of knowing, as one character, a life-size puppet, although masterfully manipulated, spoke in falsetto tones and was totally and completely unintelligible. The play has been performed in Greek, Spanish, Polish, and English; this latter needs some work. The set, lights, staging are all intriguing, and certainly Ms Skubik must be commended on her considerable efforts, but theatre is primarily an auditory medium where “thoughts” as well as feelings are conveyed. It is an intellectual realm relying not on visuals, but on the spoken language.
I found Look, What I Don’t Understand the more interesting of the two original, solo pieces.Having won severalinternational theatrical awards, it brilliantly conveys the anxiety, disorientation, and utter terror of a refugee fleeing an Eastern, Communist country. It’s author and actor, Anthony Nikolchev, overflows with energy, passion, and commitment. He is a brilliant performer. Unfortunately, his virtuoso performance is also flawed, although to a lesser extent, by a certain unintelligibility. Speed, multiple accents, instantaneous transitions between numerous characters all contribute to lack of clarity.
I do not believe that Mr. Nikolchev would lose anything by slowing down a trifle and relaxing a bit more. Indeed, to the contrary, I feel the emotions would only be fuller and affect him, and us, more, and we, so eager to be with him on his journey, could not only admire his performance, but participate in his tale.
I suspect that both pieces were primarily self-directed. The two directors mentioned in the program may have added excitement of movement and set manipulation, but neither was adequate to the task of directing this acting team to fulfill their potential, and, most importantly, to be understood.
The sets were superb and manipulated brilliantly. Lighting (Anna Cecelia Martin) was interesting, though sometimes a bit too obvious and expected.