Novel.
If someone asked me to explain in one word metro maniacs, A play that just came out at the New Jersey Shakespeare Theater at Drew University in Madison, that’s what I mean.
Novel.
If they asked me for a two-word explanation, it would be very strange.
metro maniacs Set in beautiful Paris at the beginning of the 18th century, when the aristocracy of the French capital was enamored with poetry and the men and women who wrote it. It was hard rock music at the time. This play is about a man who writes a poem/play and is trying to get everyone he knows into the play as characters. According to the author, the play has five plots, but he needs a detective to find any of them (even Columbo on TV, he couldn’t find one).
Click here to advertise on the New Jersey stage for $50-$100 per month.
metro maniacs There isn’t much of a plot, no real main characters, and not much of a set. I was adapted by David Ives from his 1738 production. French writer Alexis Pilon.
But nights in Paris and Madison are also a lot of fun. Especially when author David Ives throws in references to modern people and stories that aren’t in the story (such as US singer Britney Spears while talking about the French geographic region of Brittany), I can’t stop laughing. I couldn’t. There are guys in a duel with empty pistols. One man says that the “Metro” in the title refers to the New York City subway system. A man is in love with two different women, but it’s not clear who’s who and who’s not.
The play begins with two men wooing a French girl, Lisette. Or French Lucille (botox cover girl). After that, play just goes nuts. Is she really Lisette or Lucille? Is the man begging her her true lover? Is the other one Woo-ah and Woo-yi, or is it just Woo-ah before he becomes Woo-yi?
What is wooee, anyway?
Who is Mondor, a flamboyant playboy who gets lost in the play and seems untouched by the world, the entire plot and each character until the last scene. Why would Francal, a middle-aged man who writes a play, try to pull all the characters from the story into his play? Who is he, anyway?
Like HOWL, who is the old man cast in Frankaroo’s play that demands howling? Continue howling as loudly as you can throughout the story.
Who is the other playwright Damis, or is he really a playwright?
There are no goals in play. Reckless. No meaning, no meaning. Still, I can’t take my eyes off it. You are hooked from the start.
You gotta love the quirkiness after this show, majestically, majestically, directed by Brian B. Crow (oh, he’s really Brian B. Crow)
When will the play within the play be written? and by whom? Is a playwright who writes a play in a play really a playwright? Is this play really a play?
There are a million sublots in play and they are all going nowhere. Crowe gets great performances from his cast of actors, at least on stage it looks like he has 12,000 actors, but he’s actually seven.
The talent of the actors brings all the characters to life, so you can see them as people regardless of who they are, who they want to be, or whether they are understood or misunderstood.
Click here to advertise on the New Jersey stage for $50-$100 per month.
First, there’s the host, Frankaroo, a guy who writes what appears to be an endless play. Through twists and turns, he becomes a central figure in the story. He is brilliantly played by Brent Harris. Deshawn White as Lisette and Billy Wyatt as Lucille are two lovely women in the show. Austin Kirk plays the inexplicable Mondor. Is Christian Frost a Damis or really a Damis? Individually they are wonderful and collectively they are treasures.
This play also needed Abbott and Costello, and Seinfeld next door.
You can meet Kramer in 1738, right? Parlez vous Jerry?
Oh wait. wait. Baribo’s howl can be heard in the parking lot in front of the apartment.
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
metro maniacs It runs until September 4th. click here About ticket information.
Photo by Sarah Haley
Bruce Chadwick worked as an entertainment writer/critic for the New York Daily News for 23 years. He then served as an arts and entertainment critic for the National Online Weekly, The History News Network. Chadwick holds a PhD in History and Cultural Studies from Rutgers University. He has authored his 31 books on U.S. history and has lectured on history and culture around the world. He is a professor of history at the City University of New Jersey.
Commentaires
Enregistrer un commentaire