It’s different to have impressions on my 18th show this year covered in Twitter posts, rather than a lengthy blog post. I felt like I was using my reviewer’s eyes to look at the show as it went on, as seen in some of my comments (“Skillful acting by Craig Marker…”) rather than my usual sitting back and letting my imagination wrap around the plot. I also noticed the script of the play more than in other recent productions. This was probably due to the mandate to post whatever I felt was notable. The next time I’m in a theatre just as an audience member – which, incidentally, will be tomorrow night – I will be curious to see if I notice the script as closely.

I’ve been seeing a lot of science fiction recently, mostly at the movies (The Adjustment Bureau and Limitless) but some at the theatre too. WIREHEAD made its way to the front of the pack, with a clever script that had evolved with the times. SF Playhouse’s press materials noted that the play has been revised following its Los Angeles premiere (world premiere?) last year. One scene riffed on the recent story of a computer beating a JEOPARDY contestant. Actors were highly committed to their roles, especially (as I noted in Tweeting) the versatile Craig Marker in the lead, who I thought was especially memorable in 9 CIRCLES last fall at Marin Theatre Company. Local actor Gabriel Marin offered forceful support in the leading secondary role. It was the first time I had seen him perform, although I am aware of his prolific Bay Area acting schedule.

I felt that the plot of WIREHEAD was most effective when it turned more allegorical and forceful towards the end of the show. There was a large amount of high strung exposition to lead off the play. This choice brought the audience in whole-heartedly from the start, but meant that the story’s impact might be delayed. The drama of the piece – will the lead character choose a plugged in or plugged out life? – did not become especially clear until about 2/3 of the way through the evening.

As I said when ruminating about HARPER REGAN, SF Playhouse always offers a commendable level of theatrical commitment with their work. It is clear that the actors, designers and production team want to be there and enjoy blending modernity with classic storytelling. They are plugging WIREHEAD extensively and have a great hook in this techno-savvy age.

I wanted to attend my theatre friend Ben Abbott’s performance in Berkeley tonight, described in this press release:

Questions of the Heart: Gay Mormons and the Search for Identity
By Ben Abbott
and
Time and Materials
adapted by Elijah Guo from the poems of Robert Hass
Zellerbach Room 7
March 31 and April 1, 2011 at 8 pm
April 2, 2011 at 2 pm and 8 pm

Spring 2011 will see a double bill of exciting undergraduate work. Elijah Guo and a team of writer-actors will create stories based on their interactions with the language and beauty of Berkeley professor and poet Robert Haas’s brilliant collection Time and Materials for the stage, and Ben Abbott will look at intersections of gay and Mormon identity from original interviews with the community and those who touch and are touched by them in Questions of the Heart: Gay Mormons and the Search for Identity. Both are senior honors thesis projects.

Unfortunately, the play had sold out by the time I looked into getting tickets. I also felt it was important (personally, to me) to keep the container of an intensive weekend school class that ran today from 10am to 5pm and will continue tomorrow with the same hours… so I came home. However, I found an interview that Ben did with a friend about his piece, linked to here – and a review of sorts, here, so now I have them for posterity.

Curtain call at the #sfplay! Next time I will bring my computer.
March 31, 2011 9:30:33 PM PDT via txt
Main character is caught between two worlds in a surprise closer…
March 31, 2011 9:29:19 PM PDT via txt
Intriguing dose of modern morality as two seemingly unrelated #sfplay characters finally address each other onstage.
March 31, 2011 9:22:12 PM PDT via txt
The script throws hints of allegory as it stylishly describes the eternal debate between MAN and MACHINE in the sharp #sfplay climaxing now.
March 31, 2011 9:19:18 PM PDT via txt
I sense a showdown starting to be set up as the main character begins to confront the WIREHEAD machine in the #sfplay.
March 31, 2011 9:12:28 PM PDT via txt
You pulled out your Tooth? – I am done with computers! – Fuckin’ ridiculous – Protecting our loved ones – Lines conveying #sfplay contrasts.
March 31, 2011 8:59:20 PM PDT via txt
Disparity between the two main characters is becoming more evident in a high octane #sfplay hostage scene, cannily riffing on JEOPARDY.
March 31, 2011 8:49:31 PM PDT via txt
Energized dramatic conflict amps up at the #sfplay with some wanting “the implant” and some not.
March 31, 2011 8:43:25 PM PDT via txt
Skillful solo acting by Craig Marker – with a phone in his head! – is interrupted by Gabriel Marin returning to the #sfplay stage.
March 31, 2011 8:36:58 PM PDT via txt
Appealing build up of dramatic tension in the #sfplay and memorable character line: If there were no suffering, how could we appreciate art?
March 31, 2011 8:30:22 PM PDT via txt
Embracing open source technology as the female characters are introduced at the #sfplay and an omnipotent voice is yet to be explained!
March 31, 2011 8:24:29 PM PDT via txt
Is that a piece of brain?! The #sfplay takes a sudden turn to urgency and I am drawn in.
March 31, 2011 8:18:43 PM PDT via txt
Cole Alexander Smith enters center stage, clearly a versatile, energetic frequent SF Playhouse actor. Remembering him in SAFE HOUSE in 2010.
March 31, 2011 8:15:42 PM PDT via txt
This plot moves quickly at the #sfplay with an AC adapter & flickering lights around another skillful Bill English setting up the WIREHEAD
March 31, 2011 8:10:40 PM PDT via txt
Enter Mr. Craig Marker for the 5th Bay Area play I have seen him in at tonights #sfplay…
March 31, 2011 8:05:11 PM PDT via txt
Here we go for WIREHEAD at the #sfplay!
8:03 PM Mar 31st via txt
Setting the stage at #sfplay with energetic house muzak, welcoming staff, and Tweeters in the rear.
7:53 PM Mar 31st via txt
Ticket and mobile in hand, ready to begin tweeting #sfplay… not for another half hour.
7:26 PM Mar 31st via txt
This is an advance WARNING: that I will be LIVE TWEETING a PLAY @SFPlayhouse TONIGHT and am looking fwd to an UNUSUAL theatrical experience.
9:23 AM Mar 31st via web

Last week I visited the Walt Disney Family Museum to catch an on the big screen showing of the classic Disney film MARY POPPINS. The museum offers a daily screening of a different Disney film each month, and I was very pleased that Poppins was chosen for this month. I’d wanted to attend one of the screenings ever since the museum opened in October, 2009, but was unable to find a film that caught my interest until now.

It’s a fascinating exercise to revisit a childhood favorite film in the present day. I used to watch Mary Poppins quite frequently, especially around Kindergarten and 1st grade, but its popularity faded for me as time went on. Coming back to it now, I notice all the subtleties and brilliance of the film. It’s an amazing technical achievement for its time, with the music, animation and stellar performances all around. The use of matte paintings is awkwardly obvious in a way that the child audience would not notice … but I feel that the animation more than makes up for it.

I notice the melancholia that reverberates from the film as one makes the mental transition from 1964 back to 2011. It’s true that the enduring artistic legacy of the film continues and is now represented with the Poppins musical. (Incidentally, that show premiered in London on December 15, 2004, and I should have gone, as it was my last day of drama school… but I was getting ready to tour the European continent.)

But there’s another side and that’s where the melancholy feel comes in. Disney himself passed away just two years later. Matthew Garber, aka Michael Banks, died in 1977 at a very young age. Julie Andrews lost the use of her magnificent singing voice in the late 1990’s. The Sherman Brothers, composers of the unforgettable musical melodies, were in fact bitter rivals – a detail that has only recently been revealed.

Nonetheless, the kindness of the film stands out. I felt grateful to be reminded of the happiness and creativity that exudes from a film like this. I notice that the Disney films from the mid 1960’s, including my personal favorite THAT DARN CAT, all have a similar maturity and integrity with their storytelling… in a way that does not exist in the cinemas today.

Show #14 brought another visit to ACT in the heart of SF’s primary theatre district. I must admit that I always notice the heightened theatricality of ACT at their Geary Theatre home. They are one of the only theatrical venues in San Francisco that maintains a classic, tri-leveled theatre space, with stalls, mezzanine and balcony levels. I often feel a slight sense of vertigo going up to their third level balcony (‘cause that’s where the cheap seats are) and having to squint down at the actors on the stage. I also recall my one visit there when I sat on the main level – in the first row, in fact – and had a direct eyeline to the actors and their expressive performance of the epic play WAR MUSIC in April 2009.

This time, I was there for THE HOMECOMING, a classic play by Harold Pinter. ACT’s artistic director, Cary Perloff, has been very expressive about her love of Pinter’s work. A carefully staged photograph of her working with Pinter himself in the early 1990’s is featured in the current ACT program, and Perloff says that she has been looking for a Pinter project to do since his passing in late 2008. She chose this play for their company member Rene Augesen, a versatile actress who has the pleasant problem of playing most of ACT’s female roles, as she is the only female core company member. Indeed, in THE HOMECOMING, Augesen tackles the showy role of Ruth, an enigmatic visitor to a testosterone filled North London house.

I loved the stylistic choices and nuances of this production. Both acts opened with sinister, macabre pieces of jazz music, setting the stage for the unease that was to come. The Pinter Pauses were respected and enhanced throughout the show. The direction clearly played to the stage’s advantages, with several careful tableaus etched in my memory. In particular, usage of chairs on the stage showed an attention to detail and curiosity about which character aligned or interacted the most with another.

The character choices were left wide open to debate and interpretation. The sole female character, Ruth, for example, is a woman of few words. I would dare say that her choices speak greater than her words. The patriarchal figure, Max, is prone to bellowing, but shows a softer and more inquisitive side in Act 2. That reminds me… I felt that Act 2 actually IMPROVED on Act 1 here, which I can’t say always happens in theatrical productions. The characters and/or staging seemed more engaged and layered. The aesthetic remained spare, with minimal underscoring during the scenes and actions speaking louder than words. The story could continue after the curtain went down, and it’s no surprise that Pinter continued to explore similar themes of manipulation and surprise in many of his later works.

I finally made my way to Stagebridge in Oakland for show #13, GRANDFATHER’S JOURNEY, a poignant and sentimental tale of immigration and multigenerational lives in Japan and the USA. Stagebridge is an unusual company that specializes in opportunities for elder (60+) individuals to participate in theatre. I first heard about their work and opportunities shortly after arriving in the Bay Area in the fall of 2008. I didn’t realize until this performance that they are actually inclusive of ALL ages, but place particular emphasis on working with older folks. I have a few connections to the company, where my current roommate was the composer and music director of this production, and Stagebridge itself offers yearly internship opportunities to students enrolled in my graduate school department. I could have worked there last year, but chose to do Shakespeare at San Quentin instead.

I wrote in my personal journal that I did not want to be overly critical of a piece that has such clearly positive intentions. I still feel that way, but did wonder about the choice to have a major character portrayed as a life size puppet, with another actor operating it for some, but not all, of the scenes. The same actor than portrayed a different character in other scenes. There seemed to be some modest technical challenges with the performance venue. Actors were miked, but the high ceilings of the space (a church) made it sometimes challenging to decipher their dialogue.

The production was clearly a labor of care for all the actors, with the lead grandfather role portrayed by an expressive film actor. The show was not very long, maybe 50 minutes, but clearly enjoyed by the audience members. Interestingly (to me), there were many members of the Bay Area Japanese community in attendance, drawn in by the multigenerational story line. I am sure that the leaders of Stagebridge appreciate their clear impact on their audiences and ability to draw across age ranges. Now that I’ve finally seen what they are about, I look forward to checking out another production or performance event they will offer.