Responding to my public (not really, just a flashback post)

Hey, everyone!  I know I've told you that I'm rather obsessed with my blog stats.  There's something incredibly satisfying in seeing that more and more people are reading your thoughts.  Of course, most days only have a dozen or so peeks, whereas real blogs get millions of hits a day!  But there are days when I wonder what the heck is going on and why are so many people clicking on me!  And today is one of them.  For some reason, when looking at my stats today, I see that there is someone looking at all my old 'flashback' posts.  Since none of those posts got a lot of hits in their original incarnations, I sort of let the flashback idea fall by the wayside.  But since I do actually have a theater review from ten years ago today, I thought "why not?!  let's give that reader something else to see! 😉"

And so I present a review from 2008.  I can still see that projected face in my mind's eye, if I try...

Samuel Beckett (from the internet)

1/16/2008:  Last night, I saw my first show of the new year!  I went to the New York Theater Workshop and saw Beckett Shorts, directed by Joanne Akalaitis and starring Mikhail Baryshnikov.  I love me some Misha and have never seen Beckett on stage before (is that even possible?), so I ponied up the cash and got an excellent seat.

I enjoyed myself, though I have to say I was disappointed that the show was just barely over an hour long.  I guess I didn’t see that in the reviews or anything.  It was quite a pricey ticket for a 70- minute show, but I suppose I shouldn’t complain.  Baryshnikov is really worth every penny (or dollar).

The evening is four short Beckett plays:  Act Without Words I, Act Without Words II, Rough for Theatre 1 and Eh Joe.  The sets are very futuristic and modern, with lots of metal and Plexiglas, yet with a light-colored sand/dirt floor, that led to some interesting juxtapositions.  There is also a scrim in the front where projections are used from time to time.  And there is original music by the always interesting, often frustrating, Philip Glass.

photo credit: Joan Marcus

My favorite piece was the last one, Eh Joe.  The scrim was showing a projection of a video of Baryshnikov in a bathrobe, sitting on a bed.  The set is backlit so we can see he is doing that on stage, too.  The videotape shows Baryshnikov going around the room and closing all the curtains.  Is he getting ready to do something?  Does he do this every day?  It's so compelling.  Then the video goes off and the scrim becomes a live feed on Baryshnikov.  As he is sitting on the bed, we get this extreme close-up of that amazing face while another actor sitting upstage has a monologue.  I think she’s supposed to be the voice in his head at the end of his life, or something, but she was maybe directed to do too much.  She was distracting, especially at the end.  Though I imagine all her flailing and screaming could be the sign of a flailing and screaming mind.  It just seemed a bit too much, to me.  But watching that video of Baryshnikov’s face—amazing.  The man could be a silent film star.  At one point, he starts to cry, and you see, behind the scrim, his body collapses, just a little, while you’re looking at this extreme close-up of his face.  Wonderfully powerful.


I enjoyed the whole evening, not only the last piece — I think that Beckett’s work was well-presented and it was nice to see Misha all over the place.  He really is magnetic.  You cannot take your eyes off him when he’s onstage.  He’s amazing.  I didn’t really understand the other actors as much, I felt like they were directed to do too much.  Maybe to offset the possibility that no one would bother to look at them whilst on stage with Misha?  Who knows.  I would definitely recommend seeing Beckett Shorts (though I’d try to get a discount if possible).  Extreme close-ups of Baryshnikov's beautifully emotive face is always worthwhile...