Red Noir
http://www.theatermania.com/new-york/reviews/12-2009/red-noir_23398.html
By: Adam R. Perlman
Dec 11, 2009
The Living Theatre, under the stewardship of Judith Malina and the
late Julian Beck, have been cranking out theater aimed at our
collective conscience -- or at least that part opposed to war,
commercialism, and heterodoxy. It's newest offering, Anne Waldman's
Red Noir, fits neatly in that vein. There's a head-nod towards a
noirish plot, but plot is beside the point. Really, so too, is text.
The evening is about experiencing a collective -- first as audience,
then as participant.
Over the course of the play's 85-minute running time, Malina's
direction only occasionally focuses on the central action, which
involves a bad man, a red dress, redress, and a grandmother and
granddaughter reading. The real event is the large ensemble, circling
the audience, chanting, stomping, insisting on anarchy. Eventually,
they take our chairs (some of which are used to spell out "do no
harm") and pull us into their whirling games.
For those who cringe at audience participation, stay far, far away.
The ensemble is both touchy and feely and won't hesitate to drag you
into a dance or give a close, lingering hug to a reticent bystander.
Throughout, the text continues somewhere in the background, giving
you a sense of just how unimportant it is.
As welcoming as the performers were, I never fully gave over to the
scrum, in large part because of the weird disconnect of seeing
methods that were once radical and aggressive feel positively quaint.
Sure, it's fun enough to be hauled into what's essentially the Act
One finale of Hair, but the experience is more nostalgic than
provocative. Still, if you manage to share a moment of impromptu
motion (or emotion) with another person, that's more than you get
from most evenings in the theater.
.
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