White Rabbit Red Rabbit—Artists Rep—SW Portland

All the Stage is a World

     This unusual production is written by Nassim Soleimanpour and curated by Jerry Tischleder, as part of the Frontier series.  It is playing at their space, 1515 SW Morrison St., through April 15^th.  For more information, go to their site at www.artistsrep.org

     Can anyone guess when the moment of death begins?  That’s easy, when we’re born.  So, the question should be, not so much when we are going to die, but how we live our life up to that moment.  At what age were you when you realized that those alien people we called parents, were actually young like us at some point, meaning we would be like them someday?  At what age were you when you realized that not everybody thought and believed as you did, and that the world did not revolve around you?  And when did the specter of the thought of our own demise enter our brains?  Why is it, when we are Young, we are in such a hurry to be older and, when older, life is passing too quickly?  We certainly are strange creatures, aren’t we?!

     

But there is a way of living “forever.”  Also, of living different places and at different times and be different people.  How, you say?  Become a writer, of course.  Do not Dickens and Shakespeare continue living through their works and, as those works/characters inspire us as humans, to carry on that legacy for them?  “We are such stuff as dreams are made on…” and those fantasies can carry us anywhere we desire—the ultimate freedom.

     

And now to the play.  Oops, really can’t tell you anything about it (except that the above thoughts of mine do interact, I believe, with part of his purpose).  The reason being…well, I’ll just let the media release speak for itself:

“The play you’re about to see is sealed inside an envelope.  The actor about to perform will never have seen it.  In fact, there is a new actor every performance and they’ve only been told what is absolutely necessary.  Join the actors and LEAP!”

     

And so, for an hour+, you will be taken on a journey of heart, mind and soul. The performers are all stellar, having seen them many times before onstage.  They are:  Susannah Mars, John San Nicolas, Ayanna Berkshire and Darius Pierce.  The night I saw it, the actor was Mars.  She did extremely well in holding the audience captive and her experience as a singer and entertainer in intimate, as well as stage settings, was an asset for her.  She just recently knocked them dead in the musical, Scarlet, at Portland Playhouse and will, I’m sure, continue to Wow audiences!

     

If you have different impressions/thoughts/ideas after seeing this show, that’s as it should be.  A really good artist, like Soleimanpour, is always willing to share their works and allow it to speak through others as to its merits.  I recommend this show.  If you do choose to see it, please tell then Dennis sent you.

--DJS