 Niger & No Sit, No Stand, No Lie hits: 1075 |
| Posted by Cuauhtémoc Q Kish [MRCQK] on 2007-22-06 09:45 |
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Niger & No Sit, No Stand
The 6th@Penn Theatre continues with its ambitious Resilience of the Spirit Human Rights Festival with No Sit, No Stand, No Lie and Niger in repertory with Pistachio Stories, Pull and Mitzi’s Abortion through July 6.
Delaine Douglas’ Niger is a beautifully poetic piece that will tug upon your heart strings in a big way. Tanya Johnson/Azara and Elzie Billops/Sedou do very fine, understated work as widows walking along the same Nigerian pathway to their next journey. The story cries out against famine and war and its aftermath; it’s bare bones and bare emotions. It also speaks the universal language of motherhood and hopelessness. Director Rena Lyon kept the short drama simple and focused. My only complaint was that my visit with both the actors and playwright was far too brief. Let’s hope we see more from all three of them.
David Hogan’s No Sit, No Stand, No Lie explores the ramifications of torture in this play that will challenge most theatergoers with the juxtaposition of laugh-out-loud comedy and the seriousness that underscores the insanity imposed upon captured soldiers during wartime. This drama is by turns jarring, questioning, bizarre, and comedic. Josh Freeman, Nirina Ralanto and Antony Hamm do fine work in various roles that include Baptiste, Suicide Bomber, Bovary, Wife, Jailkeeper, Tutsi, and Cain, to name but a few.
The work is framed within three written announcements of “Victor’s Dreams 1, 2 & 3.”
Apparently Victor, a soldier, has been sentenced to die in a torture chamber where any bodily movement is restricted. He dreams (“life is a dream; a dream is life”) to escape this hellish situation and the dreams are played out to the audience in vignettes that are intentionally laughable and questioning at the same time (oftentimes speaking directly to the audience). The actions are scrambled, perhaps like the mind of the imprisoned Victor, who seems to conjure up a daemon wife who is faithful and then unfaithful (Is that the torture that he will endure when he escapes from prison?). At one point an actor recites the line, “I’m afraid you’ve lost me.” You may have this same feeling as you try to connect the dots to Hogan’s quite intelligent foray into military and familial madness.
Director Doug Hoehn says that Hogan offered the tradition of Dadaism as a reference point in an attempt to define his intensions with NSNSNL. The play certainly has a feel of madness to it and offers a challenge to the audience to keep up with the rapid-fire actions throughout the piece. In addition to setting this play comfortably between entrance panels and simple blocks, Hoehn gets extra credit by hefting around way too many props and set pieces for the multiple scene changes (including a full size bed).
You will have to stay on your toes with NSNSNL, but if you can allow yourself to enter Victor’s mad world, you just might enjoy it.
(Niger and NSNSNL play in repertory through July 6th; the third production listed with the press release was a no show)
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