Hey gang, I’ve got three pairs of tickets to give away to Hand2Mouth Theatre’s Uncanny Valley, which opens this weekend and runs through May 22.
A year ago, we sent Blogtown commenters Graham and Two Squatting Women (TSW, these days) to review a workshop version of the show. Of that production, TSW wrote:
Much of the thematic content of the play stems from Proust and other philosophers who’ve mused on fear of the unknown; the anxiety elicited from memories we want to both vividly remember and repress into oblivion. Freud’s essay entitled “The Uncanny,” an analysis of our deep dread of the unknown, looms large in Uncanny Valley along with (surprise!) notions that many of our fears are rooted in repressed childhood memories.
The seven-member cast is very strong, playing loose and naturalistic (practically playing themselves, it seemed) with the more straightforward narrative of the first half of the play. The more visually dynamic second half transitions quickly into an unstable blend of Freudian trips down childhood memory lane (the cast all seem to have early memories of weather patterns), dance, stage fog, precipitation, unitards, writhing sirens, bliss, emotional trauma, hissy fits, seizures, revelations, physical scars and a total abandonment of the strict scientific method to which the group aimed to adhere. The broken fourth wall engages the audience, injecting the play with moments of levity and steering it away from the more alienating, inward-gazing traits often ascribed to experimental theater. That doesn’t mean this play is easy. There are no simple story lines or big, Broadway smiles screaming “Love me, please!” But the material, while challenging, doesn’t ever really leave you asking “What the fuck?”
If you’d like to win a pair of tickets, email me with UNCANNY in the subject line by 3 pm today, and your choice of shows—it runs Thurs-Sun 8 pm, and they’ll set you up whenever. I’ll pick 3 winners at random. If you don’t hear back, YOU LOSE.
@TSW (the commenter formerly known as Two Squatting Women) what prompted the name change?
I had to go see this again last night for reasons completely unrelated to the Mercury… meh. These guys decided to turn into a dance troup. They’d be an all right dance troup if they gave up on the whole, “we’re doing a play” idea.
From the talkback afterwards: “we don’t have a script”. FFFFfffffuuuuuu……
Whoa. Surprised to check B-town and see this dredged. Can’t believe they still haven’t put out a final version until now! Didn’t they do this last fall, too?
So, has the whole thing really devolved, Graham? Anything redeeming?
Now I’m curious. Wanna go. Alison, any takers yet??? I’ll email you pronto.
S.Chundy,
It just became stupid-sounding to me one day. I wasn’t trying to be crass with it to begin with (it’s the name of a painting). Ok, maybe I was a little. Plus I’m not a woman. And The Mercury shock troops threatened to “gender reassign” me to match my profile name unless I changed it.
@TSW: I’ll totally admit that the tech side of this production is top notch. Lighting, sound, blocking, et al. Wonderfully done.
If you like story or characters or that sort of thing… look elsewhere.
Graham,
Hmm. I do remember really liking the tech, particularly the sound. I also remember becoming less interested the more the play built to a frenzy of aimless movement. I’ve seen some of their other stuff and they’re typically better than that. Torn. I’ll go if Alison kindly and randomly chooses me.
@TSW “Mercury shock troops”! HA!
Hey guys… it’s good to hear your feedback but I did want to clarify that the showing you came to a year ago was a work in progress, as was the showing in September. We make our shows over a long period of time, and spend that time writing & creating & showing it to audiences so we can make it better (though of course whether or not this version is better is up for debate).
Anyway, just wanted to clarify that we were always aiming for May 2011 to be the “full” premiere.
Interesting to hear that our use of more dance & less overt story lost you, Graham… I’d be curious to hear whether you think this version has devolved or evolved, TSW.
@la foi: Overall, I think this version is better than the one I saw last year. However, I didn’t know what was going on in this version. The amount of dancing and running and lights and things happening and then more flashy lights; it all became blurry. I didn’t care one bit about what was going on script-wise. I liked the pseduo-science script more than the newer more free-form sports thing-a-ma-bob.
@la foi,
I actually look forward to seeing it again. Will let you know.
Hi @Graham!
I’d like to throw in that if you were there for the talkback that it was the final preview night, which I’d agree was a bit ‘meh’ in energy and execution compared with the rest of the weekend. Our performances rely so much on real contact with the humans in the seats that it’s always a tough transition. I think you would be surprised at the growth that builds from night to night.
Your comment on stories and character are also right on – we don’t really ever pretend to offer a traditional ‘well-made play’ and this one would be quite challenging to someone looking for those elements. This play is quite out-there even for us, very risky in what it’s trying to accomplish. How do you recreate the experience of memory onstage and trigger it in the audience without just telling favorite stories from your life?
Our creations methods have a lot in common with contemporary dance, but we are not trained dancers and really only have 2 or 3 big dance numbers in the show. I’d guess that is less than the average musical theatre show? There is definitely a lot of attention paid to economy of movement and physical presence, so I’m glad the blocking and choregraphy resonated with you.
What we strive for is to create a super live atmosphere that brings the audience in as an important part of the final experience. We spend a great amount time trying to let the audience become a participant in the performance – to allow you to get inside your head and reflect on your experiences, rather than making you a passive observer to the story and characters presented onstage. I’d be interested to hear if you had any internal reflections on your own experiences or memories before or after the show.
As far as “We don’t have a script…” I don’t think you caught that correctly. The comment was that we don’t start with a script, it is set over time as the piece evolves. Right now there is maybe 2% improv structured into the show to help it evolve and to keep the feeling that everything is happening in the moment for the first time. We create content through a lot of improvisation, but then painstakingly recreate and set it as we near the public performance.
I hope it’s helpful to hear more about our process, as it is unique and definitely is not everyone’s cup of tea. We really appreciate the feedback and would love to hear more thoughts, especially if you have a take on how this compares or connects to our past work.
Cheers,
Jerry