Request Concert
Written by F.X. Kroetz
Directed by Mary Ellen O’Hara
at Side Project Theatre, 1439 W. Jarvis (map)
thru Feb 2 | tickets: $15-$20 | more info
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A meditative study in loneliness and isolation
Side Project Theatre presents
Request Concert
Review by Kat Hey
I am a woman of a certain age. I remember the 70′s and the malaise that permeated most of the Western hemisphere. There were multiple crises and shortages. The political landscape was scarred with scandal and America was reeling, trying to wash the Nixon presidency from our minds. The same was happening in Europe with the ending of political eras and the infancy of a renewed uprising that threatened the USSR’s grip on several countries. F.X. Kroetz set Request Concert in Germany, but Side Project Director Mary Ellen O’Hara transforms the play into a universal experience set in Chicago 1975.
The only sounds that are heard in Request Concert are the radio and television. The headlines of 1975 are heard along with the commercials and pop culture ditties. I had forgotten how many riffs on ‘The Real Thing’ were done for Coca Cola. The play features one character named Ms. Rasch. Meg Elliott inhabits the role of a woman who has everything in place to the point of an almost obsessive compulsive routine. There is not a hair out of place, nor a dish, nor a crumb. Elliott breathes life into what could be interpreted as a still life portrait of America in the 70′s. The cultural scene was a maelstrom of hard rock bursting through where Pat Boone once topped the charts. Groups like The Association and The Lettermen were guests on variety shows but becoming out of place with their homogenous sound and looks. This is the world of Ms. Rasch in all of its bland glory.
Elliot projects the character’s frustration and loneliness solely with her body language. Her face stays neutral and belies what is simmering and soon to erupt. Some of the gestures and routines of the character caused nervous laughter in the audience as we witnessed a life literally in a box. Elliott’s performance put a knot of recognition in my stomach. No one wants to live a life in which order is a desperately held imperative.
Kroetz wrote the play for a German audience and the collective cultural consciousness of emerging from crushing nationalism. The play translates beautifully to an American mise-en-scène. In 1975, this country was slapped out of the Eisenhower optimism and security by a good portion of the government being put on trial. The people that were the bastions and foundation of the American dream were sweaty crooks; the ivory tower crumbled like dust. The character of Rasch is what used to be termed a ‘career woman’. She supposedly chose to work and save for a secure life later. Indeed, Elliott gives a performance that causes doubt of the character having any sexual feelings or normal functions. Every part of the character’s life is on display. (She is observed going to the bathroom and I wondered if she expelled a perfectly polished result.) There is no emotion and every action is about basic function. The impact is devastating in its simplicity. Ms. Rasch is a rat in a maze – but aren’t all our lives being observed with or without consent?
The music chosen for the play is full of melancholy and romance straight from the Technicolor era. Songs from musicals and cheery songs are heard, but sung with a side of disillusion. “Baubles, Bangles, and Beads” from Kismet is sung by Nina Simone, giving a wry irony to what is a fantasy song of being given jewels and getting married. Billie Holiday and the Ink Spots are heard singing optimistic songs with a helping of emotional pain.
The set and costumes are evocative and are as much characters as Ms. Rasch. The items of domesticity according to the catalogs and commercials are on display. Elliott gives us a woman who is wrapped up and ready to be transported to that dream world like the paper dolls so popular back in the day. Only one evening is portrayed, but it could be any evening with a different outfit notched on to her body. The costume choice is also perfect. The suit and blouse fade into the background collection of conformity. Of course Ms. Rasch wears a full slip and washes her hosiery every night and wears a full nightgown. She has been taught and has perfected all of the components of the ideal woman, including a needlepoint project that becomes her companion of sorts.
The denouement of the play was not a surprise to me from the very beginning but I will not give it away. The emotional impact is akin to a bucket of sharp, icy water to the face. The company wisely does not hand out programs until after the end. The show is intended to be a meditation, and indeed it does alter the perception. This combines elements of Expressionism and suppression manifesting in what could either be considered tragedy or a blessing. Very well done.
Rating: ★★★½
Request Concert continues through February 2nd at Side Project Theatre, 1439 W. Jarvis (map), with performances Saturdays at 4pm, Sundays 6pm, Mondays 7:30pm (running in cycle with Through the Leaves. Tickets are $15-$25, and are available online at BrownPaperTickets.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at TheSideProject.net. (Running time: 70 minutes, no intermission or curtain call)
Photos by Scott Dray
artists
cast
Meg Elliott (Ms. Rasch)
behind the scenes
Mary Ellen O’Hara (director), Adam Webster (artistic director), Peter Sander (translator), Shawn Galligan (stage manager), Brian Ruby (resident production coordinator), Allison Smith (costume design), Carolyn Voss (scenic design), Stephen Gawrit (sound design), Scott Dray (photos)
14-0133
