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Disclaimer:
The reviewers' opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TheatreLouisville.org. |
Peer Reviews
Autobahn: Communication, Broken Down Reviewed by Todd Zeigler
Neil Labute, prolific writer and director of nearly two dozen stage and screen productions, has learned a lesson shared by many gifted (and under deadline) workers of words: the power of scarcity. Autobahn, a collection of short pieces set in a series of front seats, explores how deeply communication affects what we mean to one another. The Necessary Theatre's current production, set in the bare and intimate confines of the Rudyard Kipling on Oak Street, plays out for the most part with a brisk cruise-controlled smoothness. The company makes the best use of the minimal staging options in the Rud — a raised front seat and steering wheel the only set piece, rises and blackouts the only light cues. The production is austere, wisely putting the focus on the performers. The show consists of five vignettes about different pairings of characters facing different challenges together — as together as they can manage to come, anyway. Labute reveals their conflicts gradually, leaving plenty of mystery for the observer to chew on.
Necessary's cast ably handles the material. In "Funny," Becky Poschinger proves she was born out of time — she was meant for Buster Keaton's body of work. Her overwrought and overwhelmed mother, beset by a surprisingly resolute revelation from Joyce Thompson's daughter character, expertly finds the hilarity in melodrama. She says volumes and screams decibels without a single peep. "Road Trip," featuring TNT regular Tony Prince and promising YPAS sophomore Victoria Barnes, is impeded only by its length. Prince and Barnes create a real chemistry, mysterious and perpetually unsettling as more and more is revealed. "All Apologies" features Brian West delivering an Aristotelian apology for calling his wife a forbidden word. West builds a healthy momentum through the piece, drawing great laughs as he races again and again headlong into the brick wall of Mariam Williams' steely glare. There was only the slightest disconnect between the actors, which might have been overcome with a little variation on the part of Williams. Nonetheless, this "Scene From Every Spousal Argument Anywhere, Ever" works well. Kate Bringardner and Mark Forman show in "Merge" how coming to a moment of truth can leave a problem far from resolved. Both have great screwball comedy energy and the ability to spring new dimensions on the audience at the least likely moment. Finally, if "Merge" is about evasiveness, then "Long Division" is about charging full speed ahead. Andrew Pyle is a force of nature, bombastically cheerleading his hapless passenger (Paul Reynolds) into making a stand for himself. One can just imagine the pitiful end to which he will come. Reynolds is a delightful bundle of well-meaning nervous energy. "Long Division" ends the evening on a high note that rings out into the Rud lobby. At less than 90 minutes, Autobahn is great for a straightforward, highly entertaining night of theatre full of moments to which anyone can relate. If only every car ride were like this.
Autobahn Posted July 16, 2008
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