nytheatre.com review

Martin Denton · April 17, 2007

The idea of Myth America is to get a look at our country as seen through the eyes of 11 different, idiosyncratic playwrights. Stephen Wargo, the conceiver and curator of this show, has grafted the 14 short plays contributed by these authors into a kind of theatrical collage.

Matthew Paul Olmos and Saviana Stanescu look at America as Melting Pot, and their pieces (respectively, "La Mula" and "Flagstories") wound up interesting me the most. Olmos tells a sad, possibly cautionary tale about a young Latin American woman who hooks up with some dangerous characters to make her way into the United States, with the hopes of bringing her son to join her once she's saved enough money. Stanescu gives us two immigrants, one from the Dominican Republic, the other from Moldova, who both find that the American Dream is substantially less dreamy than they'd been led to believe. An undercurrent in both pieces is the idea, still so powerful, that America is a Land of Opportunity, notwithstanding all that's wrong with it: Olmos and Stanescu explore this paradox incisively.

Brian Dykstra's "Peetie and E" is immediately identifiable as one of his trademark rants against The Man. His targets here are, specifically, the American education system, American pharmaceutical companies, and Organized Religion. THe piece ends with a rap whose refrain is "What Would Jesus Do?" Also despairing about the state of our Union at the moment is Jason Grote, whose "Prometheus Rendered" attacks the interrogation tactics used against suspected terrorists.

Most of the other elements comprising this "collage" take a less aggressively critical (and often quite comical) view. Ian Cohen looks at the malaise of our post-Sopranos culture in two pieces, while Lloyd Suh looks at two very different family dynamics in his offerings. Julien Schwab has a good idea in "Stats," about a man who thinks he controls everything that happens to his favorite baseball team just by the way he tips his cap or chooses his seat—this seems to me to be a very American idea, and I was disappointed that the concept sort of fizzled out. Rachel Axler's "Joe Goes Shopping" is a too-obvious satire of consumerism, but her other piece, "Marilyns," is a pointed look at celebrity worship from both ends.

The three most famous contributors (billed—a little offensively from where I stand—in larger type on the show's postcards) are Arthur Kopit, Theresa Rebeck, and Israel Horovitz. The contributions of the first two, both brief monologues, were incomprehensible to me; Horovitz's piece, "Two Toscas," brings Noises Off to an opera house in an attempt to celebrate America's diversity while exposing another Grand Old Attribute of the USA, mainly, our intolerance for anybody different from ourselves. It's a good idea, and a nice capper to the evening, but the writing actually felt a bit clumsy to me and the busy staging overplays its hand.

A word about the direction: it's by Nicholas Cotz and Adam Fitzgerald, and it's generally effective, but it's hampered by one of Wargo's guiding principles—to break down barriers between actors and audience members—as implemented here, by transforming TBG's long narrow mainstage into theatre-in-the-round. The physical space just isn't conducive to the concept, and it makes for weird blocking decisions throughout.

One thing Wargo does here that's admirable is to intercut many of the plays, so that instead of Myth America just feeling like a succession of one-acts, it actually approaches the collage that it aspires to being. I'd have liked even more of a mix-up. And it might have said something positive about America if the multi-ethnic cast had been used less specifically ethnically: why do the two African American actors get the rap? why don't the Middle-Eastern and Asian American actors get to play characters besides the ones written specifically for their heritages? Stanescu and Olmos are right about our Melting Pot, no matter how broken it might sometimes seem. The stage is a great place to honor this powerful idea at the center of our shared American experience.

Theatre Arts Japan, woken'glacier theatre company and MONO theatre company announced the March 2-18 U.S. premiere of Hideo Tsuchida's award-winning play it is said the men are over in The Steel Tower, translated by M. Cody Poulton and adapted by Matthew Paul Olmos.

Ronit Muszkatblit will direct the staging, to play the TBG Theater on 36th Street in Manhattan. Opening is March 3.

The play's original English title is The Happy Lads. It's billed this way: "On the front lines of a war, four members of a vaudeville troupe seek refuge in a steel tower, where they meet a runaway soldier. With gunfire all around them, they do their best to keep their humanity as well as create a new comedy routine. it is said the men are over in The Steel Tower takes a humorous look at the nature of conflict, rules versus freedom and the ability to create our own ray of sunlight in the face of darkness."

The cast includes Gili Getz, Christopher Loar, Moti Margolin, Josh Peters and Andy Schneeflock.

The creative team includes set designer Tomoyuki Ikeda, sound designer Udi Pladott, costume designer Bianca Toscano, lighting designer Rie Ono, choreographer Lisa Giobbi, clown movement specialist Mark Mitton and production stage manager Kanako Morita.

The production is a collaborative Japanese-American theatrical cultural exchange project presented by Theatre Arts Japan, which is dedicated to the staging of modern Japanese theatre in the U.S.; the experimental woken'glacier theatre company in New York; and the MONO theatre company in Japan.

This unique production is the culmination of an 18-month process, which included being part of a Japanese play reading series from which it was selected. The adaptation and development of the play for its U.S. debut followed, as did a workshop with Kyoto-based playwright Hideo Tsuchida.

Artists from Japan and the U.S. worked together for 18 months to develop this play and adapt it for the American audience. The project was initiated by Theatre Arts Japan.

As part of the exchange project, Japan's most prominent set designer, Tomoyuki Ikeda, was invited to create the sets for it is said the men are over in The Steel Tower. Ikeda was awarded the 2006 Kisaku Ito Award, Japan's top honor for stage design.

Playwright Hideo Tsuchida formed the troupe B Kyu Practice (now MONO) in 1989. He has handled all of the troupe's writing and directing since 1990. His entertainment spectacle style is much in demand for commercial theatres such as Bungakuza and Seinenza. Tsuchida specializes in situation comedies on the theme of universal human sadness. He received the OMS Drama Award for it is said the men are over in The Steel Tower.

In Israel, director Ronit Muszkatblit worked for Multi Media Inc. and Isaac Productions, for which she produced the performances of the English Royal Ballet, the Vienna Opera Ballet and the Bands Garbage and K's Choice on their Israel tour. She received her MFA in directing from the Actor's Studio Drama School. She joined post theatre in 2001, and produced 301/302 in Stuttgart and Berlin. Her work was last featured during the Actor's Studio Repertory season where she directed six plays, among them Heiner Muller's Quartet, and Eduardo Machado's Fabiola.

Adapter Matthew Paul Olmos received his B.A. in playwriting from UC-Santa Barbara, where he received a Corwin Award for Best Full-Length Play, The Tragedy of Catalina's Lover. He then attended UCLA's School of Film, Theatre and Radio where he was given the GOP Award for Graduate Playwriting. Finally, he earned his MFA in Playwriting from The Actor's Studio Drama School. As a playwright, he has been produced several times in Santa Barbara and was part of the THAW festival at HERE in NYC. His children's play, Cinch Amigos, was produced at College de St. Augustinos in Spain. He is both a founder and the artistic director of woken' glacier theatre company.

TBG Theater is at 312 W. 36th St., 3rd Floor. For more information contacct www.smarttix.com or call (212) 868-4444 or visit www.TheatreArtsJapan.org.

*

According to Theatre Arts Japan notes, "Currently there are more than 3,000 theatre companies performing in Japan. While there are occasional Japanese performances in the United States, most are short term. By translating and producing Japanese plays in the United States, Theatre Arts Japan hopes to introduce modern Japanese theatre, culture and points of view to American audiences. Our aim is that with enough exposure these modern Japanese plays will break into the theatre of America, not to be seen as only Japanese theatre, but as theatre in itself. Thus, we endeavor to further the colors of the already multicultural theatre of the U.S., and fully create a true collaboration between Japanese and American theatre cultures."

by Hideo Tsuchida

directed by Ronit Muszkatblit
adapted by Matthew Paul Olmos ..> ..>

March 3 – 18, 2007
Performance Schedule:
March 2 (preview) – 4 (Sun)
Friday & Saturday at 8 pm
Sunday at 3 pm
March 6th (Tue) – 18th (Sun)
Tuesday through Saturday at 8 pm
Sunday at 3 pm
Don't Miss!
March 15th - 17th
Panel Discussion and Special Event
Place
TBG Theatre
312 West 36th Street, 3rd Fl
(between 8th Avenue and 9th Avenue)
Subway: A, C, E, 1, 2, 3 to 34th Street-Penn Station
Tickets
Tickets: $18 at SmartTix
or (212) 868-4444
Question
Contact Theatre Arts Japan

Coming March 2007
SO I HEAR THE MEN ARE OVER IN THE STEEL TOWER
by Hideo Tsuchida/
directed by Ronit Muszkatblit

www.wokenglacier.org

produced by Theatre Arts Japan & woken'glacier theatre company

www.wokenglacier.org

for more info.

WOKENGLACIER THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS THE WORLD-PREMIERE OF LOCOMOTIVE MAY 5-20

wokenglacier theatre company presents the world-premiere of locomotive written by Matthew Paul Olmos, directed by Nicholas Cotz, and produced by Michael Billingsley.

Opening the 2006 wokenglacier season, locomotive explores the consequences of a broken home. Through this story of a mother, father, and daughter dealing with the disintegration of their family, the play deals with themes of alcoholism and parenthood. In locomotive, wokenglacier puts its methods of physicality and hyper-realistic mark on new territory.

locomotive marks the companys fifth collaboration with actress and Actors Studio member, Beth Manspeizer and playwright, Matthew Paul Olmos. Manspeizer was nominated for a 2005 New York IT Award for her role as Jewish Broad in wokenglaciers seal sings its song, also written by Matthew Paul Olmos. Obie Award winning playwright Neal Bell describes Olmoss writing as possessing
a fascinatingly original voice: street-gritty and boldly poetic, brutally raw but often very funny, and always intensely theatrical.

wokenglacier is comprised of international theatre artists dedicated to creating new art by introducing unfamiliar theater pieces and exposing abuse, both social and political. Of the company, NYTheatre.com says Intriguing. Compelling. There's clearly talent and intellect at work from woken'glacier. Using a collaborative process between actor, director, and writer and synthesizing the methods of Stanislavsky with the techniques of Viewpoints, Martial Arts, and Suzuki, wokenglacier presents work that is experimental, challenging, and fresh.

LOCOMOTIVE MAY 5-20, 2006:

Wednesday- Saturday at 8pm

The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond Street

Tickets: $18, www.smarttix.com
Featuring: Tim Douglas, Beth Manspeizer, and Danielle Quisenberry.
With design by Dash Barrett, Chantel Cherisse Lucier, and Oscar Mendoza.

*For more information, please contact Michael Billingsley at (718) 791-5889 or wokenglacier@wokenglacier.org