The American Repertory Theater’s spring festival, America: Boom, Bust and Baseball, presented it’s second offering at the Loeb Drama Center this week.  Falling under the label “Bust”, Clifford Odet’s Paradise Lost is a pithy tale of loss in the wake of the Great Depression which has some startling, and at times disturbing similarities to our current economic climate.

I’m used to the A.R.T. offering cutting edge, rapturous opuses, going just a little bit farther than other playhouses in Boston to give the audience something more, but this production of Paradise Lost, directed by Daniel Fish,  gave 3.5 long hours of dull dialog and confusing, shaky staging.  It was hard to really focus on any one character or story because it felt like the author just dumped a bucket of story lines on the floor and left the director to try to piece it together lyrically in a way that makes sense, and that keeps the audience engaged.

Fifteen minutes into an extremely dense and nonsensical opening act, both of the people sitting to my right were fast asleep.  They left after the first of two intermissions, along with about six other people around me.  I can’t really say that I blamed them- I could barely keep my eyes open myself.  I’m glad that I stuck it out though, because while the first act did drag considerably, the actors did help to liven up the story in the second and third acts, just barely keeping my attention.

There just wasn’t anything going on in the piece that I cared about.  The characters were underdeveloped and there were far too many to keep track of, though they all seemed to live in the same house even though that fact was unclear and didn’t ever get around to being explained.  As the story unraveled and we collected more tidbits about the characters and how they are related, I was less engaged and more annoyed that I had invested my mind into characters that I didn’t care about, respect, or understand.  On the heels of the spectacularly character driven Gatz, Paradise Lost was especially disappointing.

Despite my obvious criticism of the play choice, and the lack of what I consider to be a firm directorial standpoint, the actors and actresses worked their hardest to give their character’s life, some succeeding better than others.  I enjoyed the sharp tongue and good timing of Michael Rudko in his portrayal of Mr. Pike the furnace man, and T. Ryder Smith was very good as both the demonic Mr. May and younger son Julie (though it was sort of difficult for me to buy that he was the younger brother, he looks like he’s about twice the age of Hale Appleman who played his older brother, Ben).  Ryder had the great instincts of a veteran performer which made him extremely interesting to watch, even after the character’s personal tragedies limited his range of motion in the third act.  Sally Wingert also had some very nice moments as Clara, family matriarch.  In fact, she best embodied the physical and emotional characteristics of the time period.

Another thing that I found both puzzling and ultimately distracting, was the choice to include modern clothing and technology into the show.  While I understand that the audience was meant to see the parallel between the late 1930’s and today, I think we could have figured it out on our own without the Casio keyboard, the POD storage unit,  and the Enron t-shirt.

I wanted a lot more from Paradise Lost than I got.  The show did live up to its claim that it was a “bust”, though unfortunately I do not think it was in the way it was intended to.

Interesting projections made us see the cast in a different light- literally.

If you’re looking for one-of-a-kind theatrical experiences, the American Repertory Theatre is always happy to oblige.  I have had the pleasure of dozens of evenings at A.R.T.’s Loeb Drama Center, but never have I attended a production as epic as Elevator Repair Service’s Gatz.  This gargantuan six-hour piece is more than a word-for-word reading of one of America’s most beloved novels; it is a reexamination of what modern theatre can be for an audience.  Throughout the evening, the entire text of “The Great Gatsby” is read from cover to cover and no alternate or supplementary text is added. The company takes its time in allowing the story to develop organically. In four distinct acts, the audience is swept with a wave of nostalgia for the days when theatre was a whole day commitment and intermissions are long enough to have dinner and regroup.  From start to finish, Gatz is the longest theatrical performance I have ever seen, and Elevator Repair Service must be commended for their engaging, glamorous, treatment of Salinger’s greatest work.

Elevator Repair Service is a theater ensemble that builds original shows around a broad range of subject matter including literary, dramatic, and cinematic forms.  In Gatz, Scott Shepherd takes on the enormous responsibility of lead player.  Framed in the context of a cheap and grimy office, Shepherd picks up a copy of “The Great Gatsby” and starts to read it aloud to pass the time.  At first the distinction is clear- Shepherd is reading the book as anyone might, in simple monotone; he is a colorless drone in a dreary office.  But somehow, seamlessly, Shepherd becomes Nick, the novel’s protagonist.  Shepherd’s coworkers step up to assume the other characters in the story, first in pantomime, but then in earnest and to much delight of the audience.  The duality of office worker and novel character is like a fun mystery game.  Gary Wilmes is the first to join Shepherd in his indulgence as Tom.  He is charismatic and lecherous, bonding his “office persona” swiftly into his character treatment.  Wilmes re-imagines the character of Tom for Gatz.  Less the bumbling oafish man who cannot control his temper, and more an American “Joe” trying to do right in his life- it was actually a refreshing look at the character, and mirrored Jim Fletcher’s unique take on Gatsby- a less confident, more unfortunate reading of the novel’s namesake.  In fact, all the characters take on more realistic interpretations of the novel’s big and impassioned characters.  Jordan (Susie Sokol) is more vulnerable, less self-assured than I imagined her to be, Daisy (Victoria Vazquez) is a little less ruthless.  I appreciate how Elevator Repair Service breathed “human” life into the characters.  (I also noticed the actors playing Gatsby and Henry Gatz, his father, have the same last name- I am not sure if this is coincidence or if they are in fact father and son, but it is really fantastic to imagine that they are- it ads even more layers to their on-stage relationship!)

My only criticism of this production is that the rich universe created in the first half of the reading doesn’t quite manifest itself as well in the second half. I believe the audience is meant to understand that as Shepherd embodies the character of Nick more and more completely, the vestiges of the office fade away leaving him completely immersed in Gatsby’s world.  Unfortunately, this didn’t work for me as well as I might have hoped.  I kept waiting for small reminders that this space was still an office, that the book was still an escape from the reality of a stolid existence, but they never came. If fact, towards the end of the play the audience was being addressed directly as if we had been there all the time despite the fact that the fourth wall remained fairly in-tact for the earlier part of the show.  I would have loved to see the office metaphor being taken further into the second part of the play because there is something so satisfying about the combination of the novelist’s voice and the actor’s treatment existing right up against one another.  I missed it towards the end.

The ensemble is spectacular.  The huge amount of preparation for Gatz is nothing short of a miracle.  Shepherd has committed the entire book to memory, and the rest of the ensemble have taken their characters to heart in a deep way not often reached in modern theatre.  The six hours flew by, I could not believe it.  The only thing more intimidating than being an actor in a show of that length has to be being an audience member!  But it just isn’t an issue with this production.  If the length of the piece is a fear keeping you from attending, I implore you to forget about it and buy tickets.  You will be amazed at how quickly the time goes.  I suggest you take advantage of one of the A.R.T.’s dining options, or run across the street to The Upper Crust for a slice, because the break goes by quickly and the excellent A.R.T. staff is diligent about keeping the show running on time.

Shepherd reads. Photo: Mark Barton

William Shakespeare would have rolled over in his grave if he had heard last night’s performance of Best Of Both Worlds at the A.R.T.- but only to get his ear closer to the magnificent sound! In the true spirit of the long dead king of writers, Randy Weiner, Diedre Murray and Diane Paulus have re-imagined The Winter’s Tale for a modern era- touching the audience like never before.  Mellow jazz, smooth R & B, passionate gospel and playful hip-hop combine and intertwine to imbue a centuries old story with new spirit.

Gone is the familiar, painful to follow text and predictable action.  The cast fills the stage with color and sound and vitality to rival the flashiest of Broadway shows.  Just as King Chamberlin’s Men would have, the company of players of Best of Both Worlds, arrive on a bare set- in a purple Cadillac no less- and instantly transform it into their playing space. Cleavant Derricks, as our narrator, sets the scene for the audience, and his tongue is planted firmly in his cheek as he introduces two R&B “Kings”, Ezekiel (Gregg Baker) and Maurice (Darius de Haas) whose pride and stubbornness lead to extremely dramatic circumstances for Ezekiel’s beloved wife Serena (Jeannette Bayardelle), his children Mamillius (Sebastien Lucien) and Rain (Brianna Horne), and the entire kingdom of lives they touch along the way.  It is Shakespeare undone and redone again (you should see the exit pursued by a bear!)

The axiom and essence of The Winters Tale live on in this neoteric, musical treatment.  Baker as Ezekiel is mesmerizing.  It is almost impossible to take your eyes off of him when he’s singing.  With a voice that floats to the very top row of seats, his emotions are palpable- from rage to anguish. De Hass is the perfect counterpoint as Maurice, his voice so warm and supple that there was not one person breathing in the entire auditorium when he hit his high notes.  All this vocal power was matched by Bayardelle’s Serena and Mary Bond Davis’ portrayal of Violetta, Queen Mother of Ezekiel.  Bayardelle garnered the loudest applause of the night after her heart-rending plea for mercy at the end of act one.  She was as beautiful and ethereal as any queen I could conjure.  Davis as Violetta had the vocal power to rival the entire ensemble, and as the company’s matriarch she filled her roll with a grace and dignity that has been unmatched by any single female I have seen perform this season.  A strong ensemble of players round out the rest of the extraordinary cast.  Nikkieli DeMone’s powerful celebration of love in the second act was a crowd pleaser, and Horne and Lawrence Stallings (as Tariq) deliver a sensational ballad- but the real show stopper came from Lucien, whose solo tribute to his mother is so beautiful that it brought the audience to tears.  He was sophisticated and mature enough to hold his own in a cast of exceptional talent.

I was so moved to be a part of this night of theatre.  Looking around the packed house, their was an even more pronounced rainbow of faces in the crowd- and that is an exciting feeling for someone who sees an average of three shows a week, often with the same, stuffy, blue-haired set.  I felt privileged to get to share this event with a crowd that isn’t necessarily your typical A.R.T. patron.  The feeling in the air was arresting- a current of excitement that revived and rejuvenated the entire audience.  The night flew by- and there was no need for the company to illicit a standing ovation at the curtain, the audience was already standing, clapping, shouting, and in some cases, singing along.  It just felt good.  The A.R.T. has made its name by offering us unconventional theatrical productions, and Best of Both Worlds is more than just a feather in the A.R.T cap, it’s a crowning jewel. Bravo, Bravo!

Jeannette Bayardelle and Sebastian Lucien. Photo: Marcus Stern.

A marriage proposal. Photo: Marcus Stern.