THE ALIENS beautifully staged at SF Playhouse
Brian Miskell (Shelmerdine) discovers Haynes Thigpen (KJ) & Peter O'Conner (Jasper) loitering. Photo by Jessica alopoli
THE ALIENS
by Annie Baker. Directed by Lila Neugebauer. SF Playhouse, 533 Sutter St., SF. (415) 677-9596 or www.sfplayhouse.org. Playing
through May 5, 2012.
Attending theatre with a noted
local theatre luminary who is a highly respected director, actor and University
Professor of Drama can intimidate when it comes time to write a review. But in
the case of The Aliens, being given a superb performance at SF
Playhouse, his recent reading of the play script added a layer of knowledge
that is pertinent to this review.
A week ago, at the Magic
Theatre the script of Any Given Day by Linda McLean is almost totally
devoid of stage directions and Jon Tracy’s direction was brilliantly unique.
Annie Baker whose fame is at a peak, hopefully not its peak,
includes detailed stage directions that according to my guest, was written in
the script. This would seem a bit of pretentious by the author and suggests
emulating George Bernard Shaw. There is little doubt that she is influenced by
Harold Pinter, the master of using pauses but there comes a time when extended
pauses allows the audience’s attention to wander. And so it is with The
Alien and one wonders whether the otherwise astute direction can be attributed
to the director who was following the author’s instructions.
Annie Baker’s name has graced
the local papers and blogs due to the fact that she is a much honored
playwright and her scripts are being produced in the Bay Area. The Aurora Theatre group mounted a acclaimed version of Body
Awareness and the Obie Award winning Circle Mirror Transformations opens
at the Marin Theatre Company in August.
All three of the
aforementioned plays are set in the town of Shirley, Vermont.
In The Alien two misfits Jasper (Peter O’Connor) and KJ (Haynes Thigpen)
are hanging out in back of local cafe. For the first seven minutes of the play
there is complete silence. Similar lapses in dialog pop up throughout the two act-eight
scene play. Psychologically impaired KJ is into brewing tea with ‘shrooms
(psychedelics mushrooms) and Jasper is bemoaning being dumped by his girl
friend. Their non-linear conversation about life, women, music and the
philosophy/poetry of Charles Bukowski rambles without specific meaning or interest.
Song writer KJ is a 30 year
old University of Vermont drop-out where he majored in math and philosophy and who lives with
his overly attentive “new-agey” mother and is on medication for his mental
illness. Jasper, a high school drop-out with gifted writing skills is working
on a picaresque novel and is also the de-facto guardian of KJ. Their camaraderie is palpable and in an odd
sort of way sweet.
Evan (Brian Miskell), a high
school student and summer camp music instructor who works in the coffee shop
suggests that the duo should not be hanging out in back of the café and timidly
suggests they leave. By the time the third scene roles around, Evan becomes
attracted to the pair and they share the thrill of a 4th of July
fireworks display.
Nothing really happens in act
one and the audience was unusually silent during intermission but all returned
to their seats although at least one of them fell asleep. This is unusual for a
SF Playhouse whose stagings are top notch. The Aliens production has all
the attributes we come to expect from this very innovative group. The acting is
superb, Bill English’s stage set a marvel and is complimented by the sound and
light designs. This reviewer may be in the minority but the author has not
created characters that we can empathize with or care about and she leaves
question marks about the attraction of Evan to Jasper that is crucial to the
upbeat ending. Would you believe that in the penultimate scene KJ, who has
apparently not taken his medication, repeats the word ‘ladder’ 113 times.
Really, 113 times.
Running time under 2 hours
with an intermission.
Kedar K. Adour, MD
Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com