Angels of Swedenborg

Contemplating heaven and hell can set a person's head spinning for days, but isn't that the stuff of great post-theater conversation? Ping Chong's abstract "Angels of Swedenborg" takes the audience on a disjointed journey through divine and demonic realms. While it's never entirely clear where we are or where we're going, this multimedia dance-theater production does raise intriguing issues of the afterlife. However, thanks to the blurry lines between good and evil and the real world and the next world, the show leaves too many unanswered questions.

According to the program, Swedish scientist and philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg wrote 30 volumes on his purported visits to heaven and hell in the 31 years after his spiritual awakening at age 53. Choreographer Chong discovered Swedenborg's work through Jorge Luis Borges' "The Book of Imaginary Beings," and this piece is a meditation on the chapters "Swedenborg's Angels" and "Swedenborg's Devils." The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago commissioned the work, and it premiered there in 1985.

A commanding Henning Hegland takes the stage as Swedenborg, here a contemporary man in tune with modern technologies, and the Christian mystic delivers a monologue about his various career accomplishments and obsessive dedication to his work. The latter takes him to a clean white desk at stage right, where he tirelessly works for the performance's duration. (This monologue is also where most of the talking stops.) A devilish figure lurks around Swedenborg, manipulating and influencing his movements, and a legion of angels dominates center stage in set and prop designer Watoku Ueno's corral-like structure that's filled with 600 pounds of feathers (at least according to the press release). The angels execute Chong and co-choreographer John Fleming's exacting movements as they face temptation, punishment, and celebration.

Some of Jan Hartley's many projections recall a drug trip, as the angels dance to techno music in front of the colorful kaleidoscopic backdrop. Stefani Mar's costumes are angel-appropriate, though her devils are not dissimilar from the masked Halloween partiers currently on New York streets. Her intricate costume for Beastie—who seems to be the leader of the devils—is lavishly extravagant, and the large mask facilitates Brian Hallas' echoing sound design. Michael Chybowski keeps the lighting dim, mixing elements of light and darkness.

The 12 cast members of the Great Jones Repertory Company serve the production effectively, but their fluid performances cannot clarify the plot's discontinuity. Even though Chong leaves the ends loose for a reason, I couldn't determine the production's stance on the fate of modern man. Maybe there isn't one.

Presented by and at La MaMa ETC, 66 E. Fourth St., NYC. Oct. 30–Nov. 13. Wed.–Sat. 7:30 p.m., Sun. 2:30 p.m. (212) 475-7710, www.theatermania.com, or www.lamama.org.