Faust Fest

well,
just got back from Faust Fest...
what an interesting night...

some amazing stuff, and some stuff that was so damn close!

First off let me say that Jenny and Leni totally won me over with "The Edge of Space!! Living Rooms and the Perils of Ambition" and then bowled me over with "House of Lost Roosters".
I had seen their longer piece "Why do the Children Rust?" and while I thought it had some powerful imagery it really kind of left me cold... These two shorter pieces though, I really dug...
maybe because they were meaner.

The evening started with "...Space" in what was essentially the entrance to a hallway turned into a small theatre...
then we were led outside for a monologue...
"One Two" by Troy Scheid...
great performance, very literary piece...
In fact I can imagine working very well as a comic book...
that said as soon as I realized we were dealing with variations on the prisoner's dilemna and ARGH! WWII I took a step back from the piece and became really removed. The piece even kind of referenced that sort of response, repeating line likes, "They've heard this story before" and then talking about how this one was different. Ever since some fresh out of high school kid wrote a poem about the holocaust in one of my creative writing classes in college I have been turned off by art that uses the historical circumstances of WWII to try to teach us something or make us ponder what we do. It actually really makes me crazy. So for me to see past my own little prejudice here and be able to praise the performance means it was really good...and those of you who can hear a reference to the resistance and collaborators without rolling your eyes should really be able to enjoy the language and feel of the piece...and before anyone says anything yes I understand why it's relevant to talk of such things right now...
I wonder if Stephen Foulard does?

anyway, next off was a piece that pretty much succeeded on every level...
"Shatterings"
I want to make special mention of the sound design in this one.
Misha did a fantastic job. The music and the echoing voices in strategic places and various noises and effects all helped to strengthen the piece. But then it ALL worked together so well.
The performances were great. Real. Even the kid.
The all seemed like they really were the people they were on stage.
Of course it helped that it was so well written.
The language was good, nice, resonant...the phrases that repeated strengthened themes without beating you about the head with them. None of it felt redundant. The specifics seemed right while hardly mattering at all.
I mean every child of divorce has their story, and so does everyone who's ever fought through a breakup, whether their were kids involved or not. But so many of these moments triggered memories for me. I could write a lot more about this piece. But I won't.
The last piece was the most problematic for me...
"A Work in Granite" - the performers seemed to not quite be there at first...but when they got there, well, they were there...really strong performances from all three actors in this one. It was just a bit wordy, and often without much happening... I just found my mind going into editing mode and cutting here and cutting there. I'm a big fan of saying it with less. There's something to be said for letting language wash over you, sure...but there's also something to be said for having it hit you like a ton of bricks...well maybe it was because it was last and I was getting tired, or maybe because it was a bit more verbal and static that I did find myself just letting the language wash over me as sound...and I'm pretty sure that wasn't the point...
and, I know this is nitpicky, but having a stand in prop for the prop that stands for the central metaphor for the show? There wasn't one pedestal to be found in all of Houston?
I think this piece could be really strong (or maybe it is really strong already, just not for me) with just a little more production value and a bit more editing...

They had us moving all over this really cool art space for the performances and I was going to write a lot more about that and how seeing it work so well made me rethink a few things I've had on the backburner for a while...
hmmm....
anyway, I'm off to bed...