July 10, 2006
Austinist Gets In On It
There's a mighty long menu of theatre being served up in A-town over the next week or so...all of it intriguing. Hyde Park Theatre, Coda Theater Project, and the new St Idiot Collective open shows this Thursday. And the dirigo group, swooping in ahead of the pack, sneak previewed Daniel MacIvor's In On It last weekend at the Off Center. This funny, engaging story of a playwright's struggle with some of life's larger questions may not be the weirdest thing currently playing on the Austin boards, but it's certainly among the smartest. We had the lucky chance to see it, and we're making our suggestion now that you put it at the top of your "Theatre to See in July" list.
MacIvor, one of Canada's best-known playwrights and a favorite of ours, has a well-deserved name for crafting tight, snappy scripts. In On It is relatively new (premiered Off-Broadway in 2001, won an Obie in 2002) and has been reworked over the last few years. Thanks to inroads laid by Hyde Park Theatre's Ken Webster -- who exchanged thoughts and ideas with MacIvor while bringing the excellent A Solider Dreams, House, and Marion Bridge to Austin audiences -- Lowell Bartholomee and his dirigo cohorts have scored the freshest, unpublished, unperformed version of In On It. In short, this production starts off with an already-acclaimed script made all the better by some tweaks and refinements by the playwright.
Dirigo does justice to this gift from St. Genesius. While the production requirements are basic -- the work is performed by two actors on a flat, bare stage with no props, only two chairs for a set, and minimal lighting and sound design -- that doesn't mean the production values can't be high. And they are. With the work of two outstanding actors (Scotty Roberts and Robert Faires) and the support of a clean, precise land- and soundscape not lately seen and heard on the oft-cluttered Off Center stage, In On It comes to life with a fullness and richness that would otherwise be missing from a less thoughtful rendering of a seemingly simple but truly complex script.
When we entered the theater, we couldn't help but be somewhat taken aback by the empty, inky black box that greeted us. It's easy to forget the size of the Off Center...until it looms large in front of you. We wondered how two actors would manage to fill the space. However, with the use of stark, overhead spots and well-mixed, contextual background noises, the funny, beautiful, poignant moments of the play's many vignettes occur in clearly established, rich little pools of light and sound. Interestingly, the program credits McIvor for the design, and Bartholomee and (in the case of lighting) Natalie George for "facilitating" the design. Whatever you want to call it, Bartholomee and George have been careful and deliberate in their work, creating well-defined places for the actors to play in.
Ah, and what about those actors? Scotty Roberts and Robert Faires are well known in and around Austin's stages; both have received plenty of praise and awards for their work. In On It is an actor's showcase because it requires both men to take on multiple parts, sometimes interchangeably. Roberts is This One, a playwright working on his latest piece, a family drama. The gist: protagonist Ray's life is tragic -- he is dying; his wife is leaving him; his son is preoccupied with his own marital issues; his elderly father no longer recognizes him. Faires is That One, the playwright's lover who helps him work on the script and, it seems, has recently met a tragic end of his own. The actors jump in and out of the This One's script, and in their roles as writer and partner they playfully banter with the audience and one another to tell the story of their life together.
Roberts has, in some ways, the more challenging, weightier role. This One is an artist trying to work out some very difficult problems. He's a confused survivor, waiting for "something to happen". As he pushes and fumbles through these issues -- what does it mean to be happy with someone...or are you just "not sad" together? -- he is serious, frustrated, and occasionally quite somber. Faires is allowed to have a lot more fun, displaying an impressive range of characters with several of the longer monologues, and fully engaging the audience as the wittier, more likeable That One. In many ways the play begs for comparison of the two, and we confess that we were more easily captivated by the flexing of Faires' acting muscles than by the plumbing of Roberts' depths. That being said, we're pretty sure this is because Faires' character was designed to make us laugh, and Roberts' to make us think. Sometimes we just prefer laughing.
Which is a topic we've skimped on way too much during this review. Although In On It is thought-provoking, it is also light on its feet -- an infectiously fun romp. Director Bartholomee keeps things moving along at a brisk pace, which gives you little time to ponder, but keeps you fully locked in to the tales being told by these two men. There's never a dull moment, and plenty of highly amusing ones. MacIvor's words will stick with you well after you leave the theater, and Bartholomee's decision to ratchet up the energy is a good one. It makes for an evening filled with laughter, followed by a day or two mulling over finely tuned dialog as it gradually filters in. To us, this is the perfect mix of light and heavy that we like best in great theatre. Dirigo has successfully created just that.
In On It
Th/Fr/Sa @ 8pm
The Off Center, 2211-A
Hidalgo St.
Tickets: $10 students / $17 GA / Thursdays Pay-What-You-Can
Reserve online or
by calling 371-0554
Image (c) dirigo group.
Posted by Jooley Ann in Theatre | Recommend this! (4)
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