Special K—Imago Theatre—SE Portland

          The Enablers

    This original play, exploring the mystery of the creative process, perhaps, is written, designed and directed by Jerry Mouawad and produced by Carol Triffle.  It is playing at their space, 17 SE 8^th Ave., off Burnside (parking is a challenge in this area, so plan your time accordingly), through February 22^nd.  For more information, go to their site at www.imagotheatre.com

    This is probably the best expression of the extent of possibilities involved in the process of creating Art!  To most, it is a mysterious journey, made up of Muses, Madness and Magic.  I have been a part of that unique club since I was old enough to remember and continuing to the present day.  To give some connection for you from the existing world of artistic merits, it skirts the edges of Serling’s, The Twilight Zone; the French, cult-classic film of yesteryear, King of Hearts; Vonnegut and his outrageous worlds; Pirandello and his search for meaning; Dr. Leary and his exploration of the inner depths through Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds; and other sources.

    The setting is a stage, cluttered with four folks, the asexual, Thelma (Stephanie Woods); the promiscuous, Louise (Emily Welch); the sanctimonious, Narcissus (Danny Gray); and the newbie, Goldman (Matthew Sunderland), actors all.  Their purpose, as it has been for twenty years, is to entertain the fantasies of SHE (Anne Sorce), the be-all and end-all, the Empress or Queen, of this “castle” during the Black Plague era of Europe in the 14^th Century.

     (A side note, showing the creative side of people during such dark times:  The disease started as a red spot on the body and, as it multiplied, a dark circle formed around it.  To stop the spread, victims who died of this were identified by flowers being placed in the pockets of them.  The bodies were then burned.  A famous children’s ditty came from this disaster…which I’ll name toward the end of this review.)

    The purpose for this deception, it seems, is a type of therapy to feed into her delusion until it wears off.  Her minions are actors hired to feed into this atmosphere and to do her bidding.  But wear and tear are emotionally draining the participants, until an elegant stranger arrives, Arnold (Sean Doran) and his quirky assistant, Jeanette (Colleen Socha).  More I cannot tell you without revealing elements an audience should discover.  But, suffice to say, it will turn their world upside down and sideways…and ours, too.  Keep in mind, not everything is as it seems.

    This is a brilliant piece of Art by Mouawad (with is co-conspirators/designers, Jon Farley, Lighting & Props and Myrrh Larsen, Sound), exploring the inner workings of a human and merging them with the outer complexities of the universe.  “What a Piece of Work is Man….”  It is destined for a run, I predict, in the Big Apple.  It will open your minds to what is possible—Everything!

    The actors and crew, many from former Imago shows, are exceptional! The illusion/delusion they create is perfectly understandable and realistic…until it isn’t.  “We are but a walking dream…” and this cast & crew and its creator make us believe in the unbelievable…the illusion of reality.  And when this is stripped away, what are we left with…the Void…an Eden…no, another Dream, perhaps.  Oh, and the little children’s rhyme:  “Ring around the rosy, pocketful of posies, ashes, ashes, all fall down!”

    I highly recommend this show.  If you do see it, please tell them Dennis sent you.

--DJS