High-Browin'

Two consecutive days of high-brow theatrical events this past weekend, courtesy of Lincoln Center Festival 2008 with "Die Soldaten" and "The Bacchae."

"Die Soldaten": 12-tone music is not my cup of tea, so I won't discuss the music. The production is technically astounding. Audience seating is on risers that travel on railroad tracks that follow the length of a T shaped stage. A larger orchestra is house left, a smaller one is house right. So as the risers move past the orchestra, the music/sound surrounds you in interesting ways. The music gets under your skin that it's aurally overwhelming by the end. And it was only at the end when I realized how much I fully appreciated what I saw. As the lights faded, I collected myself and asked, "What the hell have I just seen?" The experience trumps text/musical content for me. Don't care much for the story nor the political overtones. It is a German modernist opera about a young woman corrupted by soldiers. I was always riveted by the action/movement/staging onstage. I described the stage a lot because the subject of theatrical space popped up in my head (oh, memories of Senior Seminar in Theatre). A play about soldiers presented in an armory is too fitting. The platform reminded of a hanamichi and as the risers travel the length of the runway, distance affects how one feels about a character and situation. A lot of depravity happens in the story and those scenes are served to the audience as close as possible. The last scene is quite moving - the audience travels along with the daughter, now a beggar, as she walks away from her father. As we inch farther from her father, the gulf between father and daughter and the distance between her and decent society feel even wider.

"The Bacchae": The German opera above featured an orgy, a Bacchanal, the character of Dionysus in "The Bacchae" would totally stamp his seal of approval on. I've underestimated Alan Cumming's chops as an actor. If only he could stop mooning the audience in every production he's in. He exemplifies the impishness of that Greek god and his wrathful quality - a scorned rock idol, I suppose. Cumming charms the pants off the audience that allows the audience to immediately follow him on his path for revenge. True to the text but extremely pop in its presentation - more rock n' roll, complete with pyrotechnics. The Maenads are groupies or more like backup singers. The sharp tonal shift from almost comedy to high tragedy jarred me, but it presents the masks of comedy and tragedy side by side.