Tragedy – Berkeley Rep; Opera at the Castro: Sensational
by Buzzin' Lee Hartgrave‚
Mar. 21‚ 2008
TRAGEDY: a tragedy at Berkeley Repertory Theatre
“TRAGEDY: a tragedy” is a comedy by Will Eno (The Pillowman). As Jerry Seinfeld said of his show, “it’s a show about nothing.” And that is exactly what you get in this play. Nothing much.
It starts out funny as hell on a Television Broadcasting set. There is the Older Anchor Man who could be Walter Cronkite and the out of the studio reporters who report from various parts of the city. And what they report about is basically about nothing. They are out there like all reporters are, trying to make a story out of nothing. That is hard to do when basically nothing is happening.
In this town, the Sun has left for good. The reporters talk about the silence, a breeze in the trees and even this: Reporter: “I’m in front of this house Frank. There doesn’t seem to be anyone home. The lights are not on, except for a porch light on a motion detector that lights up from time to time. But this is interesting Jim. In the back yard there is a cracked Ceramic Rabbit. I don’t know what it means, but I thought I would pass that along. Back to you, Frank.”
This may sound like silly drivel – but I hear this kind of stuff every night on CNN, MSNBC, all the Networks, KGO and other Radio stations. They all seek out witnesses to answer questions like “Did you see or hear anything?” The answer is always ‘No’ – “back to you Jim.” The witness didn’t see or hear anything. It is this revealing look at how the media is constantly grasping at straws to make a story that gives the play great insight. And author Eno has flushed it with hilariously and effective.
This kind of stuff goes on way too long, however. Funny as it is – and really clever the way that it skewers the media, the play basically is a five to eight minute Saturday Night Live skit that has been stretched to 75 minutes. Although the program says 75 minutes, it was actually longer than that. Some people had trouble staying awake after awhile, because of the repetition.
The set is great -- the direction by Les Waters is very interesting, and the actors are really terrific, as they report segments like: “The quite is not technically not that quite, Frank” One actor reporting from the State Capital building says: “We don’t know anything yet, Frank. But something is about to happen, you can feel it.” And then there is this: “Whenever something happens – something does” – back to you Frank.” Love this one – “I’m here at the First Congregational church, where no one has gathered, Frank.”
These quotes may not be exactly as they are in the play, but I think you get the idea. An Idea, that has some brilliant moments, but not enough of them. Remember, they are talking about the Dark of the night.
The outstanding actors are: David Cromwell, Anchor in the Studio … Max Gordon Moore as Michael, Legal Advisor, Thomas Jay Ryan as John in the Field … Marguerite Stimpson as Constance at the Home in the dark and Danny Wolohan as The Witness. Bold and enigmatic acting as it is, by all the players – it boils down to this: “Nothing much going on around here Frank -- back to you.”
RATING: TWO GLASSES OF CHAMPAGNE!! –trademarked-
Angela Gheorghio (Magda) La Rondine. Photo: Terrance McCarthy.
CASTRO THEATER AS OPERA HOUSE
The Castro Theater’s interior actually looks like a mini-Opera House. The lighting is perfect and the gold leaf gets you in the mood for Grand Opera. To say the least, it was magical. And in many ways it was superior to seeing Opera live.
With Opera on film you get to see amazing close-ups of the Singers, the Orchestra, Orchestra leader and the exquisite Art Deco set. There is nothing like seeing faces up close. As Gloria Swanson said in “Norma Desmond” “In those days we had faces” – and that is exactly what you get on a huge dynamic screen of high quality. Magnificent surround sound swirls around you from every angle. It’s a fantastic trip that gives new visions to Opera.
This wonderful exotic opera has an abundance of great music. There is Magda’s (Angela Georghiu) “Chi il songo di Doretta” and “Fanicilla, e sbocciato l’amore” (first act) – in the second act is the steadfastly beautiful “Scusatemi, scusate.” In the same act, the powerful and masterful chorus bursts upon the scene with a thrilling and rousing end to the second act. Wow!
The expert editing opened up a whole new world of Opera that reveals the emotions of the lovers. You would have to sit in the second row at an Opera House to see the pain in the faces of Misha Didyk and Gheorghiui. What a revelation.
Does filmed opera has a future? Yes! You can’t beat the immediacy and the passion. It is profoundly moving. I’m not saying that live performance is dead, but this film version of La Rondine is as close as you can get to a live performance. What would Puccini think? I think he would be amazed and thrilled.
Since the arrival of General Director in 2006 at the San Francisco Opera there have been four Simulcasts. Madama Butterfly at Civic Center Plaza, Rigoletto at Civic Center Plaza & Stanford in Oct. 2006, Don Giovanni to 7 Bay Area venues in June 2007, and Opera at the Ballpark: Samson and Delilah at AT&T Park in Sept. 2007. They were well received. But, for myself, I don’t like the park like atmosphere with people walking back and forth all the time. I would prefer that the simulcasts take place in a closed environment where there are not all the distractions. It’s worth paying to see it inside, out of the San Francisco wind. There are more Simulcasts coming up and I will let you know where they will be. Opera is certainly blooming since David Gockley and his great ideas have taken over.
The Photo of Lee Hartgrave Boy Reporter is by Jim Ferreira – Film Noir & Hollywood Glamour. www.lafterhall.com.
May 10, 2008
