My first evening of Fringe began at School of the Arts, where
RAPA presented Dramatic Space’s debut production, “Somnium.” The zany adventure story
started with the premise that a small group of scientists had observed that
there was more to CERN’s discovery of the Higgs Boson “God Particle” than
previously thought.
When strange phenomena results from people falling asleep in
proximity to the Hadron Collider, Captain Lockspeare organizes her crew of
slumbernauts aboard the Somnium to pursue the roots of dreams in the human
mind.
Blending psychology and particle physics, the players take
turns acting out three sets of increasingly disturbing dreams as they get
physically closer to the source. The crew members were dressed in adult onesie
sleepwear adorned with scientist or military regalia, and I almost immediately
began to think of the whole thing as a witty Little Nemo meets Captain Nemo
scenario.
The actors deftly kept each scene moving through a clever use
of minimal props — wooden sticks, frames, and a wheel — and vocal punctuations
to the supporting soundtrack, performed by a man manipulating a simple stringed
instrument with a bow and other gizmos, with a box at the base for some neat acoustic
enhancement.
“Somnium” will be performed again Sunday,
September 18, at RAPA @ SOTA: Ensemble Theatre. 4:30 p.m. $10 ($8 for seniors,
students, and kids). All ages.
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“Here I Lie,” which was my next stop,
over at Writers & Books, was a considerably heavier production. At just
over half an hour in duration, the micro-show nevertheless was a sock in the
gut. Produced and performed entirely by University of Rochester students, the
piece reimagines Argentine poet Alfonsina Storni’s last few hours on earth.
The show opens with actor Michele Currenti sitting
cross-legged on the ground, swathed in a sheet-shroud, and despondent. She’s surrounded
by clothes, lanterns, papers, and pill bottles. Throughout the work, she rises
and paces, interacting with these objects or with the screen upon which images
dance (courtesy of A/V designer Molly Nemer).
Currenti’s chillingly operatic voice powerfully laments lost
love in Spanish, alternating with a recording of poetry read in English by
Andria Rabenold. She is angry and sorrowful and speaks of abandonment —
research for backstory explains that her lover has committed suicide — and her
grief progresses toward her own resolve to end her life as well.
Even before I learned more about Storni’s life, the morbid
tones in “Here I Lie” had me thinking of Emily Dickinson or Sylvia Plath. The
strange little show, with its mash-ups of live singing, recorded poetry, and
haunting visuals, was first performed at this year’s ArtAwake, when it was
directed by Alberto Carrillo, who has since graduated from UR and returned to Madrid.
“Here I Lie” will be performed again
Saturday, September 24, at Writers & Books. 6 p.m. $5. Appropriate for ages
13 and older.
I can’t express how deeply thrilled I was to see the
Norwegian tale “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” told
at Writers & Books tonight — not only because it has been my favorite story
since childhood, but doubly so because judging by last
year’s Fringe performance by Didrik Soderstrom (of the Brooklyn-based Hnossa Project), I knew it
would be infused with magical life.
It’s really something to behold Soderstrom recreate live what
he has evidently so lovingly planned out. Again this year, he spun this
borrowed yarn using only a mic, an amp, and a looper pedal, immersing the
bewitched audience in spoken words, song, and vocal layering. And punctuating
bits of storytelling are his soaring songs, often sung in-the-round.
The tale begins in what should be early spring, but a
lingering winter that “drowned the world in elegance,” has romanced the heroine
Gudrun even as the snow threatens her farming family’s survival. Soderstrom’s
brand of storytelling conveys every nuance of the settings and situations not
just with his voice, but also with the drafts of wind gusting in his cheeks, melting
brooks gurgling in his throat, hesitant birdsong tripping off his lips, and pure
suspense conveyed with the patter of fingertips along his forearm.
Dependent upon the fickle elements, Gudrun’s family is in
real danger when a blizzard delays planting. Her father receives a disturbing
proposition from an unlikely source — in exchange for security and comfort, a
monstrous bear requests her hand in marriage.
Haunted by something familiar in his eyes, Gudrun acquiesces
and sets off with her civil and secretive husband, but before long, her
curiosity gets the best of her. A highlight of the show is the rolling chatter
of Gudrun’s curiosity and longing, conveyed in a fever swarm of layered vocals
immediately before her naive betrayal. Having discovered her beast’s curse, she
must undergo trial upon trial to test and trust the miraculous strength of
unanticipated love.
“East of the Sun, West of the Moon” will
be performed again Saturday, September 17, 10 p.m., and Sunday, September 18, 5
p.m. $11. Appropriate for ages 5 and older.
This article appears in Sep 14-20, 2016.
