• The Bedbug

    The Bedbug

    The rambunctious intelligence of Vladimir Mayakovsky’s THE BEDBUG is matched by that of the nine actors at the Medicine Show Theatre who play what were originally some 90 parts spread over a 50-year leap in time. Being able to see this early Soviet-era Futurist play is astounding enough, that it holds the stage with such…

  • Reconstructing the Universe

    Reconstructing the Universe

    In the lexicon of critical clichés, “bracing” is the one I would choose to describe the Guggenheim’s ITALIAN FUTURISM, 1909–1944: RECONSTRUCTING THE UNIVERSE. I was startled, as if awakened, by its spiraling coherence and aesthetic range, and loved the byways down which it made me wander, including into the actorless kingdom of Futurist theater. I…

  • Omoo Solo Voice

    Omoo Solo Voice

    I saw a rather fascinating vocal performance on Friday night at Two Moon Art House and Cafe in Brooklyn. This is only the second OMOO SOLO VOICE concert by the young Swiss singer-songwriter Emilie Weibel, and there is doubtless much refinement to come. What is striking about her show is that she travels light, just…

  • The Complete and Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene O’Neill, Vol. 1

    The Complete and Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene O’Neill, Vol. 1

    The point of this post is not the Kraine Theater, tucked inside a portmanteau building on East 4th Street that also houses a second theater and a bohemian bar. The point is what the New York Neo-Futurists are doing inside, to wit (take a breath for this title): THE COMPLETE & CONDENSED STAGE DIRECTIONS OF…

  • Mortal Engine

    Mortal Engine

    I saw GLOW, the short original on which Chunky Move’s one-hour MORTAL ENGINE , now playing at BAM, is based, two or three years ago. It was startling in its merger of technology and honed, conditioned, athletic movement. For one who experienced the progenitor, MORTAL ENGINE is less impactful in its technological wizardry – at…