INCHOATE THOUGHTS
Hi,
I recently wrote about two
musical performances, now it’s the turn of drama.
I saw two student plays within a
week of each other. They were not only performed and produced by students, but
written by students. Both were extraordinary, and profoundly life affirming.
The Space Between was at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, the first student
show on the main stage in over fifteen years (we are told—I haven’t been
keeping track). For some, its title will evoke a Dave Matthews Band number, but
Samuel Beckett is more pertinent. The very talented Calla Videt wrote and
directed it under the supervision of Robert Scanlan, Harvard’s inspirational
professor of the practice of theater. The show is Videt’s Harvard senior
thesis. It was staged under the aegis of the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club
with a cast of thirteen—including one of my students.
The Space Between is high energy theater about high energy physics. It’s a
dramatic collage, in part drawn from a variety of theatrical sources, Beckett
prominent among them. The play explores the life of one of the scientists on
the Manhattan Project (the creation of the atom bomb during World War II),
Richard Feynman. Mythology—his dying wife’s name is Eurydice—and subatomic
particles collide in breathlessly confusing pyrotechnics, exhilarating even if
sometimes scarcely comprehensible. The cast brought great verve and discipline
to the performance, each member playing a host of characters, two of whom
represented the Caltech physicist, at times both on stage together.
Circus must be in the air, for
where The Space Between incorporated
a pair of trapeze artists commenting like a contortionists’ chorus on the
action, the second student play included a tight-rope walker. She moved slowly
and unsurely while clutching an umbrella in striped concentration camp fabric
from one attic room to another. She was one of two personifications of famed
Holocaust victim, Anne Frank in With the
Needle that Sings in her Heart. Just as two Feynmans appeared on stage
together in The Space Between, so did
two Annes.
With the Needle that Sings in her Heart is also a student written
play, but an ensemble piece conceived through months of discussion and
improvisation by a cast of Lexington High School students directed by the
brilliant, devil-may-care drama teacher, Steven Bogart. Like The Space Between, its title evokes
music, being a slightly amended line from “Two-Headed Boy” on the cult indie
concept album, In the Aeroplane over the
Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel. Jeff Mangum, who wrote the songs, addressed the
story of Anne Frank, however unusually. The allusion in the title of the play
is substantive, for the album was the source of inspiration for the student
ensemble.
With the Needle that Sings in her Heart deals with some pretty grim
stuff, including incarceration in Nazi concentration camps—Auschwitz and
Bergen-Belsen (where Frank and her sister died in 1945), but treats it with
grim ironic humor—lots of circus and glamorous ‘30s movie imagery. The amazing
Amanda Palmer (of Dresden Dolls fame) played Death as the Ringmaster, and
directed the band from her keyboard.
How on earth did the foremost punk
cabaret artiste of our day get involved in a high school musical play, albeit a
very unusual one? Palmer is an alumna of Lexington High School, and was deeply
influenced by Steven Bogart with whom she has long wished to collaborate once
again. With the Needle that Sings in her
Heart is the result. She participated fully with Bogart and the cast in the
creation process. This has been recorded pretty much in its entirety by Leo
Gaskell (my “video genius” son—Palmer’s description) who is making a documentary
movie on the project from its inception to the striking of the set.
Like the undergraduate cast of The Space Between, the Lexington High
School actors performed with immense verve, discipline, and total focus. Palmer
contributed dramatically with fine judgment, tactfully declining to overshadow
the rest of a very strong cast. As the Ringmaster, she intervened silently to
lead characters about the stage from time to time, and didn't open her mouth
until the very last song.
After the wonderful The Space Between, I invited Bob Scanlan
to the opening night of With the Needle
that Sings in her Heart. I was delighted that we could see it together.
Every aspect of both productions was extremely impressive. I came away from
both plays energized by having seen what young people can do creatively when
they are enthusiastic, work collaboratively with dedication, and are well
directed. This is one of the vital things our schools and colleges should be
doing. Bravo! (And I met Amanda Fucking
Palmer!)
Now we have Leo’s documentary
to look forward to—a month of editing, he reckons. I’ll keep you posted. In the
mean time, do check out Beth Hommel’s production photos of With the Needle that Sings in her Heart on Amanda Palmer’s
Flickr page.
Ever,
Ivan