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 By Dave Irwin ABSURDIST THEATRE IS like a Zen koan: if you think you understand, maybe you do, and maybe you don't. But if you're sure you don't get it, then you have.
Lost River Theatreworks' production of Harold Pinter's 1958 drama The Birthday Party falls somewhere between those extremes. At times funny and evocative, it's also obtuse. Rather than define, Pinter hints, tossing vague clues that never add up to firm conclusions. The plot: Stanley is a resident at a boarding house run by an elderly couple, Meg and Petey. Two mysterious characters (Goldberg and McCann) arrive from an unknown organization which is looking for Stanley for unexplained reasons. Meg and Goldberg throw Stanley a birthday party attended by sexy party girl Lulu, even though it's not Stanley's birthday. The next morning, Stanley is catatonic as Goldberg and McCann lead him away. The play closes with a reprise of the opening scene of Meg and Petey's inane banter. Dean Kepker brings his mellifluous voice and dignified presence to the role of Goldberg. Kepker reading the menu at a greasy spoon would make you think you were getting a feast. The high point is his delivery of Pinter's key line, "What I believe is...what I believe is...what I believe is...." He then sits without ever finishing.
Barb Sarris is quite charming as Meg, all bustles and blunders. Joel Charles as Petey seems slightly agitated at simply being here, which is actually perfectly in character. Newcomer Kendra Webb delivers an attractive and well-focused portrayal of Lulu. Tim Vernooy seems less focused as Stanley. His mercurial mood swings--wistful, angry, frightened--are given a rough treatment as he lurches unconvincingly from one emotion to the next. To put the absurdity of your own circumstances into perspective, The Birthday Party is the ticket. It's funny, violent, confusing and strange...just like real life.
The Birthday Party, directed by Hal Melfi, continues
through June 20 at the Temple of Music and Art Cabaret
Theatre, 330 S. Scott Ave. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Friday
and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10. For information
and reservations, call 721-9640.
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As your mind wraps around that conundrum, you see why discussing
theatre of the absurd is easier than sitting through the works
themselves. Theatre patrons who like logical, linear journeys
often find absurdist plays boring, weird, smug and obtuse. But
at their best, works like Beckett's Waiting for Godot or Ionesco's Rhinoceros can be insightful, funny and powerful theatre.
Jon Southwell as McCann looks the part of an Irish thug. Bulky
and tough, he towers over Stanley, intimating violence that never
comes--at least, not from him. The best scenes of the play are
Kepker and Southwell interrogating Stanley, trading rapid fire
phrases, subtly changing our understanding through Pinter's cascading
torrent of words.
