A lady at the Smithsonian reception* the other night told me she liked provocative theatre, the kind which makes you think. She paused: "As long as it's got good acting."
"You're going to love Theory," I said, the newest show at Mosaic Theater which presents the American premiere of an award-winning Canadian production.
It will set your mind ablaze, I told her, while you ponder the meaning. For progressive theatre lovers, it's must see.
Ari Roth, the much beloved founding artistic director at the much beloved Mosaic Theater on H Street, writes in program notes that he finds hope in this show. I am happy he found it; I am still searching.
The protagonist (Musa Gurnis is Isabelle) challenges "the heteronormative, white-male-dominated film canon she is charged to teach," Ari writes. Pity white males.
Norman Yeung, a man of many artistic persuasions (playwright, filmmaker, artist, actor) won a 2015 Canadian national playwriting contest for Theory which is billed as a “techno-thriller,” but the action
doesn’t really get going until the last scene.
Then (finally!) Isabelle suddenly develops strength of character and a new person emerges, stronger and better possessed of her faculties in contrast to the mousy do-gooder she acts in most of the drama, trying to be all things to all students, unleashing the class to become
whatever it wants to be.
In Yeung's play, the roles reverse: The students teach, and the dull teacher/student learns the hard way that students need structure, after all.
Suspense gradually builds but not enough to introduce the sudden departure from its gait to the pace presented at the end.
The weak link in this chain of events is the main character, Isabelle.
Then (finally!) Isabelle suddenly develops strength of character and a new person emerges, stronger and better possessed of her faculties in contrast to the mousy do-gooder she acts in most of the drama, trying to be all things to all students, unleashing the class to become
whatever it wants to be.
In Yeung's play, the roles reverse: The students teach, and the dull teacher/student learns the hard way that students need structure, after all.
Suspense gradually builds but not enough to introduce the sudden departure from its gait to the pace presented at the end.
The weak link in this chain of events is the main character, Isabelle.
She is married to a lesbian, of course. (Andrea Harris Smith is Lee, her wife.) This is
modern-day stuff.
Isabelle's syllabus says nothing is off-limits to post for the class, including murder, mayhem, and violent sex.
That is, until certain words becomes too much for her wife to bear, and the original deal is scraped by Teacher Isabelle who changes the rules of this game.
Isabelle's syllabus says nothing is off-limits to post for the class, including murder, mayhem, and violent sex.
That is, until certain words becomes too much for her wife to bear, and the original deal is scraped by Teacher Isabelle who changes the rules of this game.
Dynamic performances by all the students (Josh Adams, Benairen Kane, Camilo Linares) lift the show, especially Tyasia Velines whose animation, arms, and exclamations earn her standout status.
Also in the cast is Tony K. Nam in a realistic and concerning portrayal as Isabelle's department head.
The stage and lighting are segregated by scene in a well-executed design by Daniel Ettinger with lighting by Brittany Shemuga. The classroom and desks sit in the upper left corner with stage center reserved for the living quarters of Isabelle and Lee.
The far right transitions from a school to home office and back again, complete with a plant merry-go-round which, after the third movement or so, becomes a distraction and you are left wondering if it's the home or the school office that's up next.
The far right transitions from a school to home office and back again, complete with a plant merry-go-round which, after the third movement or so, becomes a distraction and you are left wondering if it's the home or the school office that's up next.
And "devices." Sigh. They are omnipresent. What's a show without them? Not a contemporary show.
Director Victoria Murray Baatin, the theater's associate artistic director, makes her Mosaic theater debut with Theory which she discovered on the last night of a travel grant to Canada.
Dylan Uremovich does a nice job with simultaneous projections on different-sized screens.
Other members of the crew are Danielle Preston, costumes;
David Lamont Wilson, sound; Willow Watson, properties; April Sizemore-Barber, dramaturg; April E. Carter and Laurel VanLandingham, stage managers; Ashara Crutchfield, assistant director; and Paul Gallagher, fight choreographer.Dylan Uremovich does a nice job with simultaneous projections on different-sized screens.
Other members of the crew are Danielle Preston, costumes;
What: Theory
When: Now through Nov. 17 at 8 p.m. from Wednesday through Saturday; 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday; and 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 10.
Where: Mosaic Theater Company, Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H Street NE, Washington, D.C. 20002
Getting there: Riding public transportation from Union Station on the streetcar is easy and free, if you can find the streetcar behind Union Station where signage to the streetcar is poor. Valet and parking options are available. Move. (For late-night streetcar rides, the show may go on.)
Tickets start at $20.
Language: Adult
Duration: 85 minutes without intermission.
Post-show discussions: Saturday, Nov. 9, 3 p.m.;
Sunday, Nov. 10, 3 p.m.; Thursday, Nov. 14, 11 a.m. (cast talkback); and Saturday, Nov. 16, 3 p.m.
Open-captioned performances: Friday, Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 16 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
For more information: Please call the box office and leave a message: 202-399-7993, ext. 2.
*by Mary Louise Schumacher, art critic, at the American Art Museum
patricialesli@gmail.com
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