VIEWPOINTS – Some disorienting time travel via Caryl Churchill’s CLOUD NINE and Joe DiPietro’s CLEVER LITTLE LIES

The other day, I (unintentionally) booked myself a fascinating double-header that really got me thinking. First, I attended a matinee performance of Caryl Churchill’s audacious, trailblazing Cloud Nine, courtesy of the Atlantic Theater Company. Then that evening, I saw Joe DiPietro’s little romantic comedy Clever Little Lies at the Westside Theatre. Seeing these plays in quick succession left me with the disorienting sensation of having time traveled – in both directions. You see, although Ms. Churchill’s play was written over 35 years ago, it remains startling today not just in its treatment of gender and sex, but also its deployment of an impressively wide array of theatrical tricks – it plays with time, space, and structure in a way that’s dazzling and only possible in the theater (where one must suspend their disbelief). By comparison, Mr. DiPietro’s work, which premiered at New Brunswick’s George Street Playhouse just two years, seems old fashioned, even creaky, in its construction and observations. Despite a few references to contemporary life, it wouldn’t have surprised me if someone had told me that the production I saw was in fact its 50th anniversary revival.

IMG_4489Where to begin with Cloud Nine. I’ll start by highly praising the Atlantic’s revival. It’s just stunning. The production is beautifully acted and directed with deep affection for each of the characters and their struggles. Each one of the cast of seven is magnificent. Although I initially had some qualms about director James Macdonald’s decision to uncomfortably stage the play in-the-round, my concerns were quickly muted by the confidence, sensitivity, and intimacy of his staging. Ms. Churchill’s play is as breathtaking as it is dizzying. Although I am a fan of Ms. Churchill’s work, I admit to not having seen this landmark play before. The cosmic jump – in time, space, style, and even casting – between the first and second acts left me stunned and exhilarated. The first act, written to be performed in a satiric manner (with certain characters played in drag), takes place during the Victorian age in colonial Africa. Much like Branden Jacobs-Jenkins An Octoroon last season, the heightened melodrama of Cloud Nine’s first act makes the characters’ circumstances more horrific in their absurdity. The second act takes place in 1979 London and is performed in a more naturalistic style. Ms. Churchill’s trump card is her decision to make it seem as if only 25 years have passed for the characters, allowing us to see how little things have really changed in attitudes regarding societal roles. Now that the urgency of the AIDS crisis has dwindled somewhat, it’s easier to be more objective about what Ms. Churhill is trying to tell us and engage in the characters’ journey towards liberation from the chains of society. Betty’s (who is played by a different actor in the second act!) journey towards sexual and economic freedom, in particular, is deeply moving – although only a quarter of a century has passed for her, she’s literally shaking off chains that have held her captive for more than a century. The scene in which she tries to pick up a gay man had me in tears of laughter and joy.

IMG_4491Let me begin by saying that I had a perfectly good time at Clever Little Lies. However – although it’s pleasantly acted, competently directed by David Saint, and smartly designed – I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that I was watching a museum piece, much like how I feel whenever I revisit Hal Prince’s iconic original staging of The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. More than than, Clever Little Lies, in its dogged insistence to remain true to the 1960s Neil Simon template reminded me of Cloud Nine’s act one satire, especially after having seen Ms. Churchill’s play that same afternoon. Beyond watching an old-fashioned piece of theater, the whole production felt like it was subversively self-referencing itself (e.g., the archetypal characters, the arch acting, the formulaic sitcom-ish situations) – which in fact added to my enjoyment of the piece, although I’m sure this was unintended by playwright Joe Dipietro, the actors, and the production team. And let’s not start with the play’s horrific treatment of sex and gender – a whole other article altogether – which was only heightened by viewing the play through a satiric lens, courtesy of Cloud Nine.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (CLOUD NINE)

SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED (CLEVER LITTLE LIES)

 

CLOUD NINE
Off-Broadway, Play
Atlantic Theater Company
2 hours, 30 minutes (with one intermission)
Through November 1

CLEVER LITTLE LIES
Off-Broadway, Play
Westside Theatre
1 hour, 30 minutes (no intermission)
Through January 3

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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