Disfunctioning:
Two Plays by Ionesco
Written by Eugene Ionesco
Directed by Dragan Torbica
Second Stage Theatre, 3408 N. Sheffield (map)
thru Dec 15 | tickets: $28 | more info
Check for half-price tickets
Absurdist script will have you laughing like a moon-scented pillowfight
Rare Terra Theatre presents
Disfunctioning: Two Plays by Ionesco
Review by Joy Campbell
Anyone who’s ever tried to read or perform an Absurdist script can appreciate the imagination and creativity that must be brought to bear in order to take something with no real logical narrative or speech and transform it into entertainment.
Fortunately for audiences of Disfunctioning: Two Plays by Ionesco, Rare Terra Theatre hits the mark and then some.
Jack, Or The Submission
In this first piece, we are introduced to a family through humorously exaggerated tableaus depicting family life. While the tableaus would have more impact if a bit briefer, they are nonetheless an amusing device for juxtaposing the subsequent melodrama that unfolds as mother, father, and sister rail against son Jack, who sits stubbornly and silently while his family performs a parade of wailing, gnashing, and berating for some
In “Jack,” banality is elevated to melodrama, and the humor lies in the incongruity between absurd pronunciations and the conviction, histrionics, and gravity with which they are delivered, between the behavior and the revealed cause. The absurdity itself is the narrative; it’s in the nonsensical use of words – rich, vivid, wonderfully delivered – that the piece moves forward. Using caricatures and broad delivery, the universal types (martyred mother; ineffectual father, brattish sister) are instantly clear, and it’s all just too, too funny. Mother Jack (a scene-stealing Lucinda Johnston) is having a breakdown over the mysterious disappointment Jack (Nicholas Harazin) has inflicted on them all; an outraged Father Jack (Gary F. Barth), bombastically threatens all manner of abandonment of the family; sister Jacqueline (Naomi Lindh) is having oodles of fun stirring it all up, while Jack sits, silent and stubborn, until his revelatory proclamation changes all, and has us in stitches.
In the second part of the piece, fiancée Roberta (Catherine Price-Griffin) is presented to Jack and his family by her parents (a beautifully grasping Catherina Kusch and oily Dan Essig). After a lengthy, sidesplitting discussion of her attributes and shortcomings as her parents desperately try to unload her, Jack accepts her and they spend a scene alone, where Harazin and Price-Griffin demonstrate real chemistry as they verbally consummate the relationship in an avalanche of spoken equine imagery.
The success of the piece lies in the ability of the director and actors to take unconventional dialog and make it come alive, creating huge, colorful characters and delivering the dense, illustrative language with incredible vocal skill. The cast is outstanding, the direction inspired, and the use of music highly effective. Edward F. Davis’ original compositions add flavor to the piece; the only time the music seems out of place is during the scene between Jack and Roberta, where it feels intrusive.
The Lesson
If “Jack” gives us banality raised to new comedic heights, “The Lesson” is about the mundane side of sinister. Vashti Emigh is a young pupil who arrives at the house of a professor (Graham Brown) for private lessons. The pedantic scholar is soon frustrated by his pupil, whose lack of mathematical reasoning is demonstrated by her ability to add but not subtract. (His increasingly desperate attempts to demonstrate a simple mathematical problem are priceless.) The professor is periodically interrupted by his concerned maid (Catherina Kusch), who advises him against upsetting himself. In an Absurdist in-joke about the failure of human communication, she warns that “philology leads to catastrophe,” and the professor’s lesson becomes increasingly nonsensical as he ventures into the realm of languages. When he finally snaps and kills his pupil, the maid takes it in stride (“ Not another one!”) and helps him remove the body.
This piece belongs to the Professor, and Brown’s performance is stupendous. His delivery of dense, difficult material and his physicality creates an effortless performance that holds the audience spellbound. (When, that is, we’re not gasping with laughter). As the pupil, Emigh has the harder role. Serving mostly as a foil for the Professor, she has far fewer lines and serves mostly as a counterpoint, but does a fine job as the straight-man, the eager pupil worn down to disinterest by the Professor’s convoluted lecture.
You don’t have to be a fan of Absurdist drama to enjoy these pieces; Rare Terra has done a terrific job of making them entertaining and accessible to anyone. Judging by the audience’s enthusiastic response, I’d say they agree.
Rating: ★★★½
Disfunctioning: Two Plays by Ionesco continues through December 15th at Second Stage Theatre, 3408 Sheffield (map), with performances Thursdays-Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 5pm. Tickets are $28, and are available by phone (773.305.5643) or online through BrownPaperTickets.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at RareTerraTheatre.com. (Running time: 2 hours, includes an intermission)
Photos by Jason M. Hammond
artists
cast
Nicholas Harazin (Jack); Naomi Lindh (Jacqueline); Gary F. Barth (Father Jack); Lucinda Johnston (Mother Jack); Catherine Price-Griffin (Roberta); Dan Essig (Father Robert); Catherina Kusch (Mother Robert, The Maid); Graham Brown (The Professor); Vashti Emigh (The Young Pupil)
behind the scenes
Dragan Torbica (director, props); Richard Sandoval (set design, tech director); Frank Rose (lighting); Emma Cullimore (costumes); Edward Davis (original music); Kathy Halper (graphics); Jason M. Hammond (photography); Graham Brown (social marketing); Daniel Ryan Johnston (props, program); Ian Streicher (artistic director); Michal Ann Luncsford (general manager)
