BUS {RILEY} & CO.
FIVE SHORT PLAYS
BY WILLIAM INGE
R E V I E W E D B Y
DAN ISAAC
William Inge was pegged as the successful playwright of the 1950s who turned his back on social problems and psychopathology. But five of his little-known one-acts, collectively titled "Bus {Riley} & Co.," challenge that presumption, presenting some characters with odd obsessions. "The Tiny Closet" describes the fear and trembling of a covert transvestite who confines his female dress to women's hats; "The Boy in the Basement," set in a funeral home and focusing on the life of a gay mortician, hints at necrophilic longings.
But most striking in some of these sketches is the degree to which they call to mind Tennessee Williams. As a reporter, Inge interviewed Williams in 1944, shortly before "The Glass Menagerie" opened in Chicago. Williams encouraged Inge to become a playwright, but years later, their friendship turned to rivalry--which may illuminate "Bus Riley's Back in Town."
Riley (Jed Sexton), a sailor, returns to his home town, and his old girlfriend Jackie (Jeanne Hime) tracks him down. As they dance in a long, slow, loving embrace, Jackie tells Bus that after he left she aborted his baby, becoming very sick. The men at the bar whisper that Jackie's rich, powerful father has forbade her ever to see Bus again. Suddenly, we see a replication of Chance and Heavenly in "Sweet Bird of Youth" (1959). Though "Bus Riley" is dated 1962, we wonder who ripped off whom.
"Memories of Summer" is a small gem, with Angela Nevard very moving as Viola, the a 40ish nurasthenic woman who stays on at a coastal beach resort after the summer ends. When she insists on swimming in a churning sea, her housekeeper (Charmaine Lord) makes hurried calls to her doctor. Still, Viola returns from her swim refreshed, and a young member of the coast guard is there to greet her. She initiates a brief flirtation, inviting him to visit her cabin in the evening. As she repeatedly calls, "Young man! Young man!"--one is inevitably reminded of Blanche DuBois' encounter in "Streetcar" with the young collector for the Evening Star.
Most memorable performances are Joel Van Liew's mordant portrayals of Ralph in "Bus Riley" and the lonely boarder in "The Tiny Closet"; and Cynthia Besteman's as his bossy companion in the first and nosy landlady in the second. Larry Gleason's direction is basically sound, but too often places actors behind the scrims of Klara Zieglerova's set.
Presented by Willow Cabin Theatre Company, at the Samuel Beckett Theatre, 412 W. 42nd St., NYC, May 1-24.
DEGENERATE ART
R E V I E W E D B Y
IRENE BACKALENICK
It was in July 1937 that the Nazis mounted their infamous art show in Munich, which they named Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art). Hitler had used the 650 Expressionist paintings as an object lesson, branding them obscene and subversive.
But the paintings have had their own revenge. They have lived on, while Hitler and his coterie are long gone. In recent times the collection was reassembled under the very title which the Nazis had assigned so contemptuously. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art mounted a 1991 show which meticulously reconstructed the 1937 exhibit.
And now the Irondale Ensemble Project has put its own stamp on "Degenerate Art." Its theatre piece, which carries a strong political message, has opened at the Theater for the New City. Employing research and improv techniques, the eight-member company has created a scene that reeks of "Cabaret," "The Blue Angel," and general creepiness. At the same time, the group interweaves other contemporary struggles for artistic freedom, moving back and forth in time and place. The result, under co-founder Jim Niesen's direction, is a provocative piece, uneven in quality, but always intriguing.
Some of its conceits pay off, others do not. There is a moving scene between Nolde, the artist who is a loyal Nazi, and his accusers; and the paintings, enacted by the players in freeze-frame style, are arresting. Solid performances are forthcoming from Michael Goodfriend (a Chaplinesque Hitler) and Terry Greiss (Irondale's co-founder, who plays Nolde, the "Blue Angel" professor, and host for the evening).
But when composer Walter Thompson leads the audience through an improvised concert, action comes to a dead halt. (Still, Thompson has created a score of wonderfully eerie sounds that enhance the show.) And the last scene is too outrageous, too out-of-hand, as each cast member breaks an egg over the unfortunate Griess' head. Enough already!
Nonetheless, Irondale is to be commended for passion, commitment, ideas--and willingness to take risks.
Presented by Irondale Ensemble Project, at the Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave., NYC, April 11-May 23.