What Nature Employs…Mankind Destroys
This futuristic drama by Lucy Kirkwood and directed by Luan Schooler is playing at the Portland Center Stage, the Armory, 128 NW 11th Ave., through May 15th. Parking can be a challenge in this part of Portland, so plan your time accordingly. For more information, go to their site at www.artistsrep.org or call 503-241-1278.
“The best laid plans
of mice and men.” Do we plan on being
violent to our fellow man? Probably
not. But when Reality raises its ugly
head, in the guise of Greed and Power, then all bets are off. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” We are in the throes of that very dilemma all
over the world at this very minute. And
the result of this childish game of Chicken or King of the Hill…well, this very
play may be the culmination of those efforts.
Two films came to
mind while watching this powerful indictment of Man…Aussie director, Peter
Weir’s, early film, The Last Wave (w/Richard Chamberline) and the
excellent, heartbreaking, Testament (w/Jane Alexander).
Picture, if you
will, three aged nuclear scientists, after The Great War of the future (nearer
in time than one might think). There is
the fussy Robin (Michael Mendelson), who’s days seem to be absorbed with
visiting a farm ripe with cows, although milk is contaminated by radiation and
so, undrinkable, as is the tap water.
There is his neurotic wife, Hazel (Linda Alper), who is all about eating
healthy, no meat, and being physically healthy, too, yoga. And the third to join this motley crew is the
speculative, Rose (Elizabeth Elias Huffman), who seems to have an ulterior
motive for this visit. And, of course,
there is the titled, Children (unseen) who are the key to this unholy union…but
more I cannot tell, you as it is up to an audience to discover.
Schooler has chosen
well her cast, as she leads them (and the audience) down a treacherous path, or
as a Bette Davis character once proclaimed, hold on to your seats, folks, it’s
gonna be a bumpy ride! And what a choice
ensemble she has. Mendelson is the best
of the best and always shines in whatever roles he plays. This is one of his finest (over the many
times I’ve reviewed him over the years), as his carefully nuanced character
keeps you guessing as to his next step in this chain of events. Alper, too, is a veteran of the stage and
fires up the boards with her increasingly slip into a type of madness. She’s amazing! And Huffman, perhaps the most savvy of the trio,
is rock-solid in a portrayal of a person on a mission, who won’t stop until a
wrong is mellowed by a righteous act.
All played out on a sparce, futuristic setting by Megan Wilkerson.
I recommend this
play. If you do see it, please tell them
Dennis sent you.
And to perhaps
complement this script, a short, companion piece I wrote, commenting on the
current state of affairs:
The Afterward Effect
The young girl at
last got to see what many of her elders had often spoke of. It was many years since The Last Great
War. And she was now at the sacred spot,
considered to be the definitive monument of the spoils of global conflict.
She approached the
stone slab with an undefined chill. The writing
on it was weathered but still legible.
She pressed “English” on the “Language” monitor on the screen that was
before it, and immediately the writing appeared readable to her. The letters on the memorial spelled out this
message:
“Be in awe of all
you that enter here and see what beauty I have achieved! Behold the magnificence of what I produced in
my lust for dominance and immortality.
Look upon my works and marvel at what one man, with an unerring purpose,
can produce. Might is Right and this
proves to future generations that, with focused determination and a solemness
of purpose, results will ring supreme.
You may kneel before this monument to one man’s greatness and revel with
envy and desire at such a spectacular accomplishment!”
And so, my immature
eyes peered beyond the withered rock to view that which the author was so
proud. As far as the eye could see,
there appeared nothing but debris…masses of rubble…a cacophony of gravestones
and crosses…and a bleakness of idle purpose and utter despair that will not
soon be erased...
At end of the
message, in faded lettering, the author’s name, “V.Putin.”
(With due respect
to “Ozymandias,” the inspiration for this piece.)
