{"id":9086,"date":"2013-12-06T09:45:26","date_gmt":"2013-12-06T17:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=9086"},"modified":"2013-12-06T09:48:20","modified_gmt":"2013-12-06T17:48:20","slug":"unique-play-at-magic-theatre-is-creative-masterwork","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/unique-play-at-magic-theatre-is-creative-masterwork\/","title":{"rendered":"Unique play at Magic Theatre is \u2018creative masterwork\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0Woody’s [rating:5]<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Analisa Leaming as Sara Jane is supported by Jeff Pew as Jerry in \u201cArlington.\u201d Photo: Jennifer Reiley.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cArlington\u201d is a harsh study in contradictions.<\/p>\n

Its world premiere at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco is all about na\u00efvet\u00e9 and forced awakening.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s about distortions and truth.And it\u2019s about a war across the globe and a girl-woman\u2019s introspective fight to ease her mind and soul.<\/p>\n

I find the play\u2019s themes neither profound nor original yet am pleased it intentionally focuses on a couple that\u2019s \u201cnot special\u2026just normal\u2026boring, in fact\u2026like people in love.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a creative masterwork, a theatrical tour de force.<\/p>\n

Possibly because it concentrates on those patriotic kids next door who can\u2019t possibly fathom in advance what lies ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are a mystery,\u201d she confesses.<\/p>\n

Sara Jane, a Pollyanna type, futilely tries to keep things upbeat while waiting for her husband, Jerry, who\u2019s trapped in the middle of the muddle called Iraq.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d been coping well until he emailed videos of atrocities \u2014 women and children being killed and burned in a ditch.<\/p>\n

Did he only photograph them, or did he participate? She excuses either action: \u201cSometimes the cost is innocent people\u2026innocent people always die in a war.\u201d<\/p>\n

And I doubt that she could dwell on the notion she might have become a distant chunk of collateral damage.<\/p>\n

She does, however, ponder the possibility of her husband\u2019s death, mentally and emotionally tying it to her brother being blown apart in another war and her visit as a child to Arlington National Cemetery with her colonel father.<\/p>\n

She considers, too, her husband\u2019s current horniness and past crudeness and voracious sexual appetite. But she justifies those as well: \u201cAll men are sort of pigs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Analisa Leaming is amazing as Sarah Jane in this odd, unique one-hour, sing-through.<\/p>\n

Her voice any given moment can totally express joy; a fragile, paralyzed Barbie Doll the next. Her face, similarly, can portray happiness or the anguish of questioning everything she\u2019s believed in forever.<\/p>\n

I find it marvelous that she gets to sing lyrics that aren\u2019t fancy but in completely accessible, everyday language.<\/p>\n

Obie-winner Polly Pen\u2019s music distinctly adds to the atmosphere. It\u2019s as choppy and fragmented as Sarah Jane\u2019s thought processes (with the resultant dramatic pianistics overlaying the jerky James Joycean stream-of-consciousness).<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, multiple sprinklings of humor \u2014 dark and sometimes unsettling \u2014 add texture to the play, which is skillfully directed by Jackson Gay.<\/p>\n

Some mysteries, on the other hand, become minuses because they\u2019re never resolved, merely hinted at.<\/p>\n

For example, will Sara Jane, despite being pregnant, become a frequent drinker like her plastic surgery-addicted mother?<\/p>\n

In toto, though, \u201cArlington\u201d is unlike any musical I\u2019ve ever seen \u2014 basically a one-woman show with the added fillip of a second strictly-in-her-head character onstage playing the piano.<\/p>\n

And the piano artistry of the casually dressed, bearded Jeff Pew (a triple threat since he\u2019s also the musical director and portrays Jerry) is astounding, especially when he\u2019s in sync with thunderstorm sounds created by Sara Huddleston.<\/p>\n

His percussive piano chords eventually become a deafening metaphor for Jerry\u2019s losing control.<\/p>\n

On reflection, I think the play itself may be a metaphor for what are alluded to as \u201cbad dreams\u201d and \u201cdevils of the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are those devils fabricated, or are they the real \u201cforeigners\u201d Sara Jane thinks may be terrorists? Are they akin to \u201clittle black bugs\u201d that should be exterminated?<\/p>\n

It makes me wonder if, in fact, the new American military mantra has been boiled down to, \u201cKill them before they kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n

There may be no uncomplicated or definitive answer, but either way, Pen, an Obie-winner, correctly labels this production a \u201cmusical that delights with breaking rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s her first collaboration with Victor Lodato, who wrote the book and lyrics.<\/p>\n

Lodato, whose award-winning play, \u201cThe Eviction,\u201d was staged at the Magic in 2002, refers to \u201cArlington\u201d as an \u201caudacious new work\u201d and says he and Pen are \u201cdoggedly trying to explore some uncharted territory in music theatre.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve become a true believer: In \u201cArlington,\u201d the Pen and Lodato team may have reached the apex of their joint aspirations.<\/p>\n

\u201cArlington\u201d plays at the Magic Theatre, Building D, Fort Mason Center, Marina Boulevard and Buchanan Street, San Francisco, through Sunday, Dec. 8. Performances Wednesdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Tuesdays, 7 p.m.; matinees, Wednesdays and Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Tickets: $15 to $60. Information: (415) 441-8822 or www.magictheatre.org.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0Woody’s [rating:5] \u201cArlington\u201d is a harsh study in contradictions. Its world premiere at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco is all about na\u00efvet\u00e9 and forced awakening. It\u2019s about distortions and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9086","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-woody-weingarten"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"