The Truth: A Tragedyat Soho RepReviewed by
Gwen Orel
May 13, 2010
Despite its somber subject, "The Truth: A Tragedy" feels more New Orleans funeral parade than Elgar elegy. Pre-show recorded music is a country-western exercise routine. The set is cluttered with oriental rugs, a walker, a keyboard, as well as an upright piano (design by Jeff Sugg). Hopkins' appearance is cluttered too: She's in white face, with a mass of short braids, wearing a skirt made out of ties over leggings. She's a narrator, a singer, and a mime, the last during long voiceovers of a man telling her story over orchestral music (choreography by Faye Driscoll). With a gray wig and moustache, she's a defensive surgeon; then she's herself yelling at that surgeon (cathartic for anyone who's felt betrayed by doctors). Scene titles such as "Japanese Girlfriend" and "Love" orient us in the kaleidoscopic story of her father, a grade-school teacher who wrote a musical about a man trying to commit suicide, called "Onions!," performed only once by his students. He was also something of a pack rat, a tendency Hopkins amusingly calls "anti-organizational" and likens to the way kudzu grows. The show is most effective when Hopkins talks to us; her voice has a Natalie Merchant–like soulful quality. Director Mendel has not shaped the piece evenly, however. Some songs work melodically and as poetry, particularly "Love," but the voiceover sequences feel long. Still, Hopkins' offbeat, creative dad is a joy to meet, filtered through his daughter's memories. She realizes once she accepts him that she no longer finds him infuriating; instead, she tells us, "Time spent with him has become inspiring, magical, sparkling with divine wonderment." The same could be said about his daughter. Presented by and at Soho Rep, 46 Walker St., NYC. May 13–30. Tue.–Sun., 7:30 p.m. (212) 352-3101, (866) 811-4111, www.theatermania.com, or www.sohorep.org. |
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