THE HANGOVER REPORT – Rob Roth’s technically astounding hybrid performance piece SOUNDSTAGE mesmerizes at HERE

Rob Roth and Rebecca Hall (filmed performance) in "Soundstage" at HERE Arts Center. Photo by Paula Court.

Rob Roth and Rebecca Hall (in a filmed performance, left) in “Soundstage” at HERE Arts Center. Photo by Paula Court.

Last night, the technically astounding multi-media fantasia Soundstage opened Off-Broadway at HERE Arts Center. Conceived, directed, and starring Rob Roth, the immersive fever dream of a production contemplates the drug and alcohol fueled fan/celebrity relationship between an aging drag queen and a similarly aging Hollywood movie star, played onscreen with magnetism by film and television actress Rebecca Hall (who definitely throws off some strong diva vibes). Reality and a sort of purgatorial dreamscape melt into each other with seductive sensuality, as do several art forms. Indeed, performance art, theater, film, dance, and music theater also seamlessly fuse.

Mr. Roth’s hallucinatory work calls to mind the twisted noir of David Lynch’s surreal Mulholland Drive, as well as campy classics (Sunset Boulevard), B-movies, pretentious European art films, and hollow celebrity talk shows. The fact that each of these genres is conjured with such convincing aesthetic is an accomplishment in and of itself. But it’s the technical aspects (video projections and lighting in particular, although the sound design is a tad muddy) and the overall level of calibration of Soundstage that’s truly astonishing. The expert marriage and interplay between performance and film attained in Mr. Roth’s production is inspired and executed superbly.

With a running time of an hour, Soundstage is perfectly succinct yet expansive, affording a unique immersion into an obsessive, self-destructive queer mind. The piece features live strings playing an atmospheric, droning score by Yair Evnine, Rachelle Garniez, and Kamala Sankaram, with lyrics by Rob Roth. Even if some of Mr. Roth’s lyrics are at times repetitive and overly precious, his performance throughout is thoroughly captivating, in all its tawdry glory. The production also features silent wraith-like dancers in black body suits who efficiently double as stagehands. They imbue Soundstage with a quivering, sinister air. All in all, I was mesmerized by the whole affair.

RECOMMENDED

 

SOUNDSTAGE
Off-Broadway, Performance
HERE Arts Center
1 hour (without an intermission)
Through September 29

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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