Theater Review: Three short plays

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

By Mike Bressler

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-One act plays have been performed since Euripides wrote “The Cyclops” around 430 B.C. However, I doubt the Ancient Greeks were offered as an eclectic selection as that which was served up last week by Jackson theater company “Riot Act.” Dance Studio 1 at The Center for the Arts provided an intimate black box style venue for the performances. At Thursday’s presentation, the seats were full, even though there were only about 30 in the audience. I was so close to the performance I felt like part of it.

The first play was Sganarelle, written by the French playwright Moliere (1622 – 1673). The play was well acted, especially by Elizabeth Park, who played Sganarelle’s wife, and Andrew Munz, who played Sganarelle.

Unlike many one acts or “shorts,” the theme of Sganarelle was broad rather than deep. It seemed to me that Moliere, who was born 22 years after Shakespeare’s death, was attempting to compress a farce similar to “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” into 30 minutes. There is the daughter whose father was pressuring by her to marry one other than her true love. (“Gold makes ugly charming,” he tells his love- struck daughter.)
There are lovers falling in and out of love, misunderstandings, confusion and anger as everyone wrongly suspects everyone else of infidelity. The players were dressed in bright costumes from the 17th century, while the lighting and the sparse set was used to advantage. However, for me, the story was too busy, too much in a hurry. It was a bit like a television sitcom that tries to jam all it can in its time slot.

The second play, “Feeding the Moonfish” by New York-based playwright, Barbara Wiechmann, was not at all broad, but it cut to the quick. It is the story of a encounter between a young man, Martin (played by Patrick Nolan), who imagines he hears moonfish talking to him as he lays under the stars, and Eden (played to perfection by Kelly Bouma), a girl whose life has been anything but a garden of paradise.

The entire play takes place one night on a saltwater dock in Florida. Except for a platform that serves as the dock, there were no props, no tricks and no special costumes. (Unless you want to count Eden’s extra short cut-offs.)

Both Martin and Eden have been touched by tragedy. Eden’s mother is in prison for killing her stepfather. Eden talks of the murder as though it was beyond anyone’s control.  “Forces was pulling ‘em - just like them fish - only they could feel emotional pain in their minds, too, so it was worse.”

Later, we learn that Martin’s father killed himself when his wife left him. Now Martin visits the dock at night longing for the innocent times he spent with his father watching moonfish. Martin and Eden open up to each other the way sometimes strangers do when under the spell of moonlight, night and water. The play captures a moment in the life of two troubled souls like an Impressionist painting, but instead of light, its canvas is composed of darkness.

The last play was “Patter for the Floating Lady,” written by Steve Martin. Jamie Reilly played a magician tiring to hold the affections of Angie, his young lover. Macey Mott played Angie, and Stephanie Capps played Angie’s assistant, who is really a spirit embodying the bitter parts of Angie.

At the beginning of the play, the magician levitates Angie, giving her the freedom she longs for, but it is a freedom completely dependent on and controlled by his magic. The play is a journey into the abstract emotions brought out in relationships and uses symbols and memory to ask questions for which there are no answers. In a monologue, Angie explains how much she loved him but how she had to leave him. The women in the audience seemed to be nodding their heads in understanding while the men looked confused. Obviously, this play is based on real relationships. It was a seamless performance by all three players and at times one could believe that Angie was truly floating on air.

Riot Act is to be commended on making these and other plays available to the public for a reasonable cost. Hopefully we will not have long to wait for their next performance.
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