Majestic "Phèdre" from National Theatre of London

Two days after viewing the telecast of Phèdre from National Theatre of London, I am still in a dazed state by the incredible play and its pitch-perfect performance, except for a less than noble and tragic Theseus, and the occasionally too nimble camera works. Many details replayed in my mind vividly – a meaningful gesture, a well-executed body movement, a most poetic line and its precise and spontaneous delivery, a delightful lighting and new angle of scenery. It was the theater art in the highest order. This play, seen in cinema, was the best movie theater experience of mine in many years. The performance and production was also one of my best theater going experiences, along with an exulted list including King Lear, Savage Land, Desire Under the Elm in Shenyang, China, Hecuba in London, Oresteia (last 10-15 minutes excluded), The Miser, Figaro, Finn in the Underworld, The Secret In The Wings, Argonautika (Berkeley Repertory Theater), Saint Joan (Aurora Theater), Medea, The Tea House, and The Servant to Two Masters (Cal Performances) in Berkeley, California.

The play was not over produced therefore the audience could savor the poetry of Racine, instead of being distracted by extraneous efforts, which often than were unnecessary. As Phèdre, Helen Mirren was simply majestic, in this guilt-ridden, death-seeking pitiable woman/monster. When Phèdre perished, a new goddess was born. I cannot express my gratitude enough to National Theatre for bringing this performance to me, since traveling to London for a seat might not be available is just too cost prohibitive. Many thanks to Peter Gelb, the general manager of Metropolitan Opera, who ushered in these theater-cinema alliances all over the world. Bravo!

There are three more plays from National Theatre for simulcasting in cinemas in this pioneer season. The $25.50 per seat was really paltry offering we can provide to the highest pursuit of human kind – art.

For a cost of $0, there will be a free simulcast performance in the upcoming season – San Francisco Opera is bringing Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore, in a much-praised new production, to AT&T Park, Saturday, September 19, 2009. The cast includes a quartet of most sought-after singers and will be led by SF Opera’s new music director Nicola Luisotti. If you want to sample a new art form, Il Trovatore is a very good introduction. Do give yourself a treat and sign-up for a seat early.

Berkeley Theatres Struck Gold in Bloody Plays

Recently, two theaters in Berkeley struck gold, bloody red gold.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre's The Lieutenant of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh, directed by Les Waters made a huge splash in the audience and on stage. It was hilarious, funny, sad, scary and downright nauseating. The gallons of theatrical blood employed show after show generated huge talk and collective moan but it was an amazing show. Yet, I felt the set was too realistic to truly feel the impact of the play. If the direction and set design were a little more abstract or exaggerated, it might have worked better; however, as it is, it might be the very conflict between the verisimilitude and absurdity of the plot empowered the play.

Less bloody but even more disturbing due to the intimate setting of Aurora Theatre, August Strindberg's Miss Julie, directed by Mark Jackson, starring Beth Deitchman (Christine), Mark Anderson Phillips (Jean), Lauren Grace (Miss Julie), triumphed in an effort of stylized realism (or naturalism, to please the playwright). It was a huge hit with audience and critics yet it was less than truly satisfying - the valet Jean to the Count was utterly charmless and without unstoppable ambition which were the reasons to capture both Miss Julie and poor Christine. The social constraint on women and lower classes were portrait well, but the sudden turn of Christine to an unpleasant moralistic bible-trotting bully was overdone. It seemed that American productions of such European plays often failed to convey the pathos and resignation if the face of insurmountable social hierarchy, either due to the limitation of the production team of the choice of them, so as to resonate with an audience the creative team believed (rightly or wrongly) would fail to grasp the spirit of such early seminal works unless the connection to the American lifestyle was made explicit. Even so, it was a bloody show, particularly Lauren Grace's Miss Julie. Brava.

"Crime and Punishment" and "Betrayed"

Last week, I attended the performances of "Crime and Punishment" at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and "Betrayed" at Aurora Theatre. The two plays were fascinating and a little frustrating in different ways, though overall both were qualified successes.

Crime and Punishment, based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's seminal novel, was adapted by Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus, and directed by Sharon Ott. The feverish degeneration of Raskolonikov's mind was faithfully captured and presented, symbolized by the multi-layered, functional doors, like the cells of protagonist’s brain. The staging itself was a triumph. The adaptation, blessedly devoid of the trap of a cheap thriller, focused tenaciously on the main point of the novel, which was admirable. However, there were a few dead spots, no where more damaging than the gratuitous and embarrassing "questioning the audience" out of blue. It was a desperate act to engage by shaking the shoulders of the audience. The final transformation and denouement of the play was murky and rushed, therefore less than utterly convincing.

The three actors gave decent to great performances except for the speeches and body language mannerisms of Delia MacDougall who portrayed an array of roles, and somehow slightly out of sync in Tyler Pierce's portrayal of Raskolonikov in his emotional outbursts or physical responses to exterior knockings. His flaw was not as damning as in comedy and could be ironed out easily with the run. The other actor J.R. Horne was brilliant as inspector and Sonia's father.

The overall impact was however strong and the non-linear structure served Dostoevsky well, considering the enormous challenge of staging such an internalized story. It was a 90 minutes evening well-spent.

Betrayed, written by New Yorker's staff writer George Packer, depicted the plight of some Iraqis who had participated in re-building Iraq after the country was invaded by the US forces and Sadam Hussein was overthrown. These Iraqis became stigmatized and faced threats on their lives, and indeed some died because of their "collaboration" with the US. The journey from naïvety to the awakening of an idealistic diplomat, Prescott, who tried to help those Iraqis, was almost parallel to that of the playwright, who, as a journalist, helped to drum up the invasion of Iraq. Consider this his own atonement.

One would not and should not compare this play to those by Ibsen, Strindberg or Chekhov. The characters, though vividly written and performed, stubbornly remained types. I believe that was out of the choice. The playwright didn’t want us to dwell on one individual, but rather a class of such people who magnanimously pronounced that they, the helping Iraqis, didn’t really feel betrayed. So, the play should be best described as "Betrayed?"

The evening was preceded by an event hosted by The List: Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies. The List Project was created by Kirk Johnson to help such Iraqis to relocate to safe countries. Prescott seemed based on Kirk Johnson as well. After the show, Johnson was joined by CEO of Ning.com, who had reached out to him to set up a social network to advance his cause, representative from Tides Foundation who helps non-profits to incubate, and a relocated Iraqi engineer who currently works at UC Berkeley. It was a moving experience to see so many people come together to atone for our sins. It was mentioned that PBS had video-recorded the New York production of Betrayed and it is a mandatory viewing for us, the Americans -- it was in our names, that our Army invaded and is still occupying Iraq.