Review - Bauer and a little extra

Even with my financial and dental struggles, I just can't stop myself from buying theater tickets.  TDF is my crack addiction.  And so it was that I bought a ticket for Lauren Gunderson's new play Bauer, performed at 59E59.  I believe I've previously mentioned that I enjoy a play about art/artists/artists' processes, so I figured this would be in my wheelhouse.  Add into the equation that I worked with the playwright several years ago and enjoyed the experience very much, and you can guess I had a positive experience at the theater Wednesday night.

Bauer tells a story that was completely unknown to me - it imagines a 1953 meeting between the painter Rudolf Bauer, his wife Louise and his former patron/supporter/lover, Countess Hilla von Rebay.  The meeting takes place in Bauer's empty and clearly abandoned studio.  As the play unfolds, we discover that Bauer hasn't painted for over a dozen years and that he has been estranged from von Rebay for the same amount of time.  The reasons for the estrangement and Bauer's continued refusal to paint is slowly revealed throughout the 90 minute intermissionless play.  I guess I should also mention that this play is based on a true story, which has recently been told in documentary form in Betrayal: The Life and Art of Rudolf Bauer (which I will totally be on the lookout for).

I had no knowledge of this amazing story of contemporary art, so I was completely engrossed in the story throughout and couldn't believe how these things could happen.  I'm a bit of a contemporary art dodo, but I do know Kandinsky, Klee, Man Ray and other artists who were contetmporaries of Rudolf Bauer.  I've also been to the Guggenheim Museum a number of times, so to hear stories about the museum's beginnings and of the political struggles behind the scenes was fascinating.  How someone can go from great acclaim to obscurity is startling.  There were so many layers in the very-witty and well-constructed script:  interpersonal feelings between the three characters; ideas about contemporary art; what happens when an artist stops making art (who is an artist if they're not making art - are they anyone anymore?); money vs passion; what is your legacy?  So many interesting ideas were just dancing around throughout the entire play - it could've been a very heavy historical lesson, but was instead full of humor and pathos. 

The direction was a little heavy-handed in the "busy work" sections of the piece, but the handling of the three actors, when confronting themselves or each other, was terrifically dramatic.  The script did an excellent job of individualizing these characters and making them sympathetic and idiosyncratic at the same time.  Clearly, the author's sympathies are with the artist and not the unseen forces who seemed to be against him, but he wasn't made into a saint.  He had foibles and annoyances, but they were all realistically portrayed as part of a whole.

photo credit: Carol Rosegg

All three actors were terrific and had great chemistry.  They were spot on with period details and their dialect work - it was great to see two strong women, not defined by men, but still struggling to navigate through a man's world.  They were very realistic to me.  The set was terrific; the white walls of a neglected studio became filled with color and light when projections would splash against the walls during flashback-y portions of the play.  Seeing a few of the paintings and drawings as they were being described was a great idea.  And I found the ending to be completely thrilling, with paint, color and feeling all coming to life.

I very much enjoyed Bauer and look forward to seeing more of Gunderson's work.  I have a couple of other new plays by women coming up in the next couple of weeks, so maybe I'm on a trend.  A non-purposeful trend, but a trend nonetheless.  Oh, and I also liked that the ushers passed out small catalogues of Bauer's work on our way out of the theater.  It was enjoyable to get a look at the art that had been described during the show and to feel that a forgotten man is finally being remembered.  I also enjoyed the s'mores ice cream I treated myself to at Sprinkles on the way to the subway... :)

A couple of other recent theater-related experiences:  last Sunday was the annual Broadway Flea Market to raise funds for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.  My office once again had a table at the Flea Market to help raise money.  Even though the day was almost oppressively humid, it was still a grand time.  I had a lot of terrific volunteers to help me throughout the day (a special shout out to my handsome chum who does the lion's share of the clean up work with me) and we had two extra-special guests, both hugely good sports, who came to sign their scripts and meet their fans.  That's always fun.  Considering we mainly sell things for $1, we did fantastically well.  We increased our sales from last year by more than $800, which is exciting!  And everyone who stopped by our table did so with a smile and appreciation, which isn't always the case.  I'm pretty sure Tyne Daly stopped by our table to buy something, but I was little too gobsmacked to be sure.  I was on my feet for about twelve hours, and my shoulder is still a little stiff, but all in all, it was a great day and I'm sorry I have to wait a whole year to do it again.

Last Monday was the Innovative Theatre Awards ceremony, held at Baruch College.  I was very fortunate to be invited by one of the movers and shakers of the awards, and to be able to sit in the VIP section.  My third row center seat was awesome!  I got to share hugs and laughs with some friends both before and after the event, I enjoyed the show itself, had a great time sort-of-liveTweeting, and reminiscing in my mind about when I worked with many of the presenters/winners.  I again remind myself that I need to get out and see more of this innovative work - so many of the shows sounded really interesting and I'm sorry I missed them.  The best part of the evening, as always, is the sense of community and love that permeates the room.  Everyone is so supportive of everyone else, it's a great feeling.  Makes you ready to face the new season with a renewed vigor and love.  At least that's what it did for me...