If timing is everything, what more relevant time for not one but two plays about the rise of fascism and antisemitism in pre-war Germany?
The title isn’t likely to pull you in, but anyone who loves compelling drama is urged to head over to the Victory Theatre Center in Burbank where Tom Jacobson’s “Crevasse” runs through Aug. 18. “Walt Disney Meets Leni Riefenstahl” or “When Mickey Mouse Tangoed with the Third Reich” would be closer to the (Deutsch) mark—but this two-hander wherein animation king Disney matches wits with Nazi propaganda filmmaker Riefenstahl is not to be missed.
When a publicist’s wife suggests he act as press agent for the controversial German director on her forthcoming visit to Hollywood, they end up role-playing as they imagine a pas de deux—with the genius behind “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and the woman responsible for “Triumph of the Will” seemingly trying to seduce each other, as he shows her around his legendary studio circa 1938.
If you’re not thoroughly seduced by wonderfully animated actors Leo Marks (Disney) and especially Ann Noble (Riefenstahl), you’ll want to check your pulse. Matthew McCray directs with a keen eye and a sharp ear for the hidden nuances in this fascinating character study, aided by Evan Bartoletti’s scenic design. As artistic director of Son of Semele, McCray does double duty as co-producer of this world premiere with the Victory’s Maria Gobetti.
I wish I could be as enthusiastic about Jacobson’s “The Bauhaus Project,” playing a few miles away at the Atwater Village Theatre near Downtown LA through Aug. 25. This half-baked drama about the fabled art and design school, which flourished during the Weimar Era in Berlin between the two world wars, is more intriguing in concept than execution.
The energetic young ensemble cast of five play a variety of characters in the play within a play that constitutes the essence of the piece. Ostensibly, they’re present-day art students who find history boring, until they’re assigned to portray such real life personalities of the period as Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, abstract painters Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky, and composers Alma Mahler and Arnold Schonberg.
Martha Demson directs this production of Open Fist Theatre Company with imagination and flair. The actors are often better than their material, notably Katrina Joy Lopez and Sang Kim, but it’s hard to get past the contrivances of the premise. Things improve with the second act, but there’s a mountain of exposition and info dump en route. Admittedly I saw only Part I of the two-part play (set during 1919-1925), and not the promising Part II (which takes place from 1925-1933).
Photo: Ann Noble and Leo Marks in “Crevasse.” Photo by Matt Kamimura.
Recent Comments