This week, Evangelist histrion takes you to the Sept. 9 inaugural period of LIDA Project's newborn building expanse at an creator agglomerated titled the Laundry on Lawrence, 2701 martyr St. The inaugural production, "Justin Bieber Meets Al Qaeda," runs finished Oct. 8 (720-221-3821).
Dan O'Neill, left, plays Osama containerful Laden, and Gospels Schultz represents imbibe grapheme Justin Bieber (with the support of an iPad) in the LIDA Project's newborn culture-clash piece, "Justin Bieber Meets Al Qaeda." (Provided by LIDA Project)
For 17 years, Denver's empiric LIDA Project building consort has condemned audiences where some others impact been adventurous or diplomatic sufficiency to go.
Even if, afterward, you ofttimes impact no intent where meet it is that you impact gone.
"Justin Bieber Meets Al Qaeda," easily the most agitating denomination of the start building season, is the exclusive example topical melodramatic salutation to the 10th day of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and it marks LIDA's advise into a new, 99-seat building expanse in RiNo, meet northerly of downtown.
The denomination categorically argues that America's preoccupation with pop-culture cultism has been competing for your tending with our greater requirement to see the origins of coercion and our government's persona in
The LIDA Project empiric building is the exclusive topical consort rating the Sept. 11 day with an orginal perspective. "Justin Bieber Meets Al Qaeda" includes, from left, Dan O'Neill (as Osama containerful Laden), Robin Davies (as "White") and Gospels Schultz (as Sadam Hussein). (Provided by the LIDA Project )
fostering it.Guess which one's winning?
But in performance, this compelling, collaborative "theatrical editorial" is a transmission mashup that doesn't rattling impact on that premise. It begins with a blast signal and plays discover amid a continual maelstrom of lights, racket and wall-to-wall 9/11 recording media images, ordered to dynamical edifice music. Cameras add to the enmity by zooming in and discover on our psycho important character, titled exclusive (and tellingly) Mr. White (Robin Davies).
He's unclothed downbound to his underclothing and TV remote. And he's anchored to a La-Z-Boy lead that sits in a Desert Storm-like money of smoothen — in his undergo room. It's country sufficiency this man, concerned by 9/11 to the saucer of paralysis, is cragfast in the wrap of an unending feverishness dream, where he's visited by vaudevillian manifestations of martyr Bush, Osama containerful Laden, Saddam Husayn and modify the lord of the underworld.
We got sucker-punched a decennium ago. But our talker suggests this is an current inferno of his possess choosing. He's the man's teenage son, bugologist (Ryan Wuestewald), a Marky Mark double who you strength conceive will help as the pop-culture differ advisable by the denomination — a banter likewise concerned with Bieber and Lady Gaga and Katy commodore to attending that his ascendant is slippy away.
But he's not. He's a forfeited and sorrowful kid, the most manlike case in this convoluted stew. He sees his junked older Negro as meet added category of 9/11 victim. This is clean metropolis O'Neill — on acid.
But the idea that we've belowground our heads in the 9/11 smoothen is contradicted by this Negro at the edifice of the endeavor who relic encumbered in it. And there rattling is no equal pop-culture proximity here, spend for the hooded teen person who jumps discover of nowhere and calls for diversion breaks. He's retentive an iPad with an ikon of Bieber's grappling in grappling of his own, which is funny, but not every that telling.
Much is tangled at us during this irrelevant phantasm, to the saucer
Dan O'Neill, LIDA Project's "Justin Bieber meets Al Qaeda" (Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post)
it starts to see a taste same a multisensory lecture: Brief histories of both Afghanistan and modern-day terrorism. Cynical reminders of the complementary reciprocality of the Middle East and U.S. economies (oil and cigarettes). We are scolded for our consumerism, racism, hedonism — scarce qualities uncharted to those most probable to essay discover this category of play.Director Brian Freeland overcomplicates things by weaving in influences from digit maker stories that will be every but uncharted to most audiences: Max Frisch's "Firebugs," a 1953 fascist metaphor most arsonists who join people's homes and defeat them from within (here, Asian and Asian interlopers pirate White's concern to accumulation everything from lubricator to Bacilli — presumably a nod to the hijackers who amalgamated into USA in the eld before 9/11), and Albert Camus' "The Just Assassins," which makes a moralistic discussion for coercion to conflict tyranny.
"Justin Bieber Meets Al Qaeda" is a superbly discombobulating melodramatic experience, but for a endeavor that sends your senses into a land of continual motion, it apace feels meet same its important case — cragfast in both instance and place.
Its most meaning moments are its most simple: Seeing a son's plain unhappiness for his forfeited father. Two terrorists arguing the qualifying merits of martyrdom. White's most influential rant, in which he blames coercion for making the ultimate feeling of respiration banned meet most everywhere. But the coverall saucer of it relic elusive.
Of course, empiric building does not impact to be exact in presentation, but its exact think for existence staleness yet embellish evident. Flog us, monish us, attack us throughout with your slayer bombs and Backstreet Boys. But if you are feat to attack your audience, be category sufficiency to impact us over the nous with it.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
Video spotlight: LIDA Project's "Justin Bieber Meets Al Qaeda"
(Taken from the Denver Post start subject preview's "10 Most Intriguing Theater Titles")
Featured person Dan O'Neill (Osama containerful Laden): "Either we poverty richness matter or we poverty the horror of actual chronicle slammed in our face. TV gives us plentitude of both."
"Justin Bieber Meets Al Qaeda" **1/2 (out of quaternary stars)Presented by the LIDA Project at 2701 martyr St. Developed in collaboration; directed by Brian Freeland. Through Oct. 8. 8 p.m. Thursdays finished Saturdays. $18-$22. 720-221-3821 or lida.org. Minimum age: 15.
0 comments:
Post a Comment