Jan Maxwell and David Barlow. Photo: Stan Barouh
"Scenes" is set in Venice at the height of the Renaissance shortly after the devastating battle of Le Panto and in it, Barker explores how art can shape the minds of the public. Specifically, how one painting, commissioned by Venice's Doge Urgentino (Alex Draper) from Galactia (Jan Maxwell) can or cannot fit into the country's sense of jubilation over its perceived naval and military power. The Doge, Cardinal Ostensible (Timothy Deenihan), and Admiral Suffici (Robert Zuckerman) expect a painting from Galactia that will celebrate the battle in which hundreds or thousands were killed. She, however, wants to create, and does create, a painting that shows the carnage and senseless loss incurred by warfare.
The first act of Barker's play details Galactia's process while painting and the politicking that goes on as she does. Her lover, a married hack painter Carpeta (David Barlow), urges her to demonstrate some restraint. The admiral, an effete gentleman, is concerned primarily with how she will depict his hands. The Doge, an art lover who admires the fact that he can smell the "sweat" in Galactia's work, is torn between wanting a piece of public art that doesn't stir controversy and one that represents this artists on whom he has taken a chance.
During the play's second act, when the epic work – the canvas is said to be many hundred square feet – has been delivered, we see the government's reaction to the work, which results in Galactia's imprisonment, and then, ultimately, her glorification as a political "spin" is put onto the piece.
It's a play richly crammed with ideas. Not only does Barker's play explore the nature of government involvement in the artistic process, it also examines the nature of how audiences respond to work created by a woman and the arrogance and pride that are sometimes the chief reasons for military campaigns. Concurrently, there is a terrifically human story here, revolving around Galactia's relationship with both Carpeta and her daughters, primarily her sometime collaborator Supporta (Lucy Faust).
Timothy Deenihan and Alex Draper. Photo: Stan Barouh
Richard Romagnoli's robust production boasts a host of impressive performances, particularly Maxwell's impeccable turn as the fiery Galactia. Maxwell manages to communicate not only the artist's willfulness, vision and prideful determination, but also her deep humanity. Draper, as the conscience-torn doge, also delivers a performance of richly shaded nuance and Barlow's turn as the sometimes sniveling, often opportunistic Carpeta, is a model of mercurial temperaments.
What may be most impressive about the play and this production is its ability to convince us of the verity of Barker's script. By the play's end we have seen Galactia's painting in our mind's eye. We've also accepted that in this Renaissance world, commissions are paid in dollars, and accepted the allegorical names as ones that might be found in history books and art reference tomes. "Scenes" is not only powerful social and political commentary, it's also richly drawn and fulfilling drama.
Glimpses of these qualities can be found in the company's offering of Sarah Kane's Crave and Neal Bell's Somewhere in the Pacific, but neither piece ends up delivering with a similar overall power.
Adam Ludwig, Stephanie Janssen, Rishabh Kashyap and
Stephanie Strohm. Photo: Stan Barouh
In Crave, Kane interweaves four monologues that give voice to four varying sides of her psyche. During the course of the piece, Kane exposes her fears, her desires, and her longing to end her life (which she ultimately did just months after completing the play). It's potent stuff that's delivered with intensity by Adam Ludwig, Stephanie Janssen, Rishabh Kashyap, and Stephanie Strohm.
The ensemble's delivery of Kane's fragmented writing – one word exclamations, brief phrases and sometimes full sentences – has been carefully orchestrated by Cheryl Faraone, and the various tones of the piece are beautifully underscored by Laura J. Eckelman's lighting design, but ultimately Kane's piece fails to deliver the emotional punch that one expects she intended. The performers have been dressed (by costume designer Franny Bohar) to represent very specific sides to Kane's personality – a teen girl, a business woman, a punk rocker, and a business man, but somehow Kane's writing allows the characterizations to bleed onto one another, robbing us of the opportunity to piece together a unified whole from the verbal chaos, and though it's impossible to not mourn the loss of such an inventive writer for the theater, Crave leaves us wanting.
This is also the case with Bell's "Pacific," which is being given its New York premiere here. Set on a Navy ship which is sailing just off the coast of Okinawa during the waning days of World War II, Bell's play examines the psychological strain that the war has placed on a diverse group of men. The ship's captain (Malcolm Madera) has begun to act erratically after receiving news that his son has been killed in action. Billy, a Seabee (Michael Wrynn Doyle), is also in mourning; he's coping with the death of his "buddy," a young man with whom he had an affair before being shipped out, by attempting to seduce other sailors on the ship.
James Smith and Malcolm Madera. Photo: Stan Barouh
Billy has more than a little success. He and Hobie (John Stokvis) have a torrid affair which helps the latter man forget that his wife has unceremoniously left him while he's been away at sea. Another sailor, McGuiness (James Smith), a sailor whose actions may have contributed to the death of the captain's son, uses Billy's advances as an opportunity to ingratiate himself with his superiors. McGuiness' plan backfires, though, during the final climactic moments of "Pacific."
Like the other plays in the Potomac series, "Pacific" allows us to enter into a world that is fraught with sexual and psychological tension, but in this piece, the result feels like a gay wartime soap opera. Wooden performances abound though there are two notable exceptions: Smith's performance as McGuiness is a fascinating portrait of soft-heartedness and bitter homophobia and MacLeod Andrews delivers a touching performance as a young man from the South, who's experienced horrors beyond comprehension during his time in service.
Director Jim Petosa's unfocused staging only compounds the problems in "Pacific." Several fantasy sequences confound, and while one understands, ultimately, why someone is banging a pot offstage to signal the various "bells" that might be heard on board a ship and why the company provides vocalizations for various sound effects (like waves and wind), the initial impression of such directorial flourishes (similar to those used by British director Edward Hall) is one of cheesiness. It's an unfortunate quality for the play that might, with revisions, prove to be a very adult spin on themes like lawlessness and male-bonding found in works like Lord of the Flies.
----- Andy Propst
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The Potomac Theatre Project's repertory season continues through July 26 at The Atlantic Stage 2 (330 West 16th Street). Tickets are $24.00 and can be purchased by calling 212-279-4200 or by visiting http://www.ticketcentral.com/. For complete schedule and further information visit: http://www.potomactheatreproject.org/.
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