Jan 22 2010
Fringe Fest! Janglish! Nutcases! Love!
One of the nicest things about trying to follow as much of what a festival offers, especially when you get closer to the finish line, is that you occasionally see certain connections among the works.
I don’t mean this in a “Hmmm, let’s see how this work interprets the theme of Art & Law compared to that one yesterday” but in how meanings, images, themes kind of snowball and you’re like, “Whoa, dude.”
Theatre Group Gumbo’s JP at one point or another made me think of Jiwo Jiro, ____ Can Change and M.E.
Like Najib Soiman’s work, it had this big message-wrapped-in-the-surreal thing going on.
Like TNS’ play, the main characters had these 180 degree turn revelatory moments.
Like the M.E., its title consisted of two letters. Heh.
***
Early on in the show, one of the characters in JP quipped: “We have a nutcase in the forest.”
In truth (or to be more precise, in The Forest of Truth, where it all takes place), there were a total of six nutcases, him included.
It was truly an out-of-this-world experience. I was expecting something crazy from these Osaka folks, but I didn’t expect it to be that crazy. I was actually wheezing afterwards from so much laughing.
Asthmatics, you have all been warned.
JP had the hyperactive group digging into their ready cache of Japanese pop culture (their loony variety/game shows, manga/anime allusions, etc.) and classical theatre techniques (kabuki, etc) to tell an allegorical tale about human relationships.
Through it all, the characters all spoke in “Janglish” (Japanese-style English) to hilarious if at times incomprehensible effect (think: Miike Takashi’s Sukiyaki Western Django).
The story? A certain Queen of the Forest (and her three just-as-OTT henchmen) lure a Man and a Woman into their lair. Said similarly OTT couple fall in love but are later given the Biblical (or as they prefer, Disney) Apple of Truth.
In an Adam and Eve-meets-Freud moment, the dude realizes he’s a mega-narcissist who loves only himself while the woman transforms from virgin to unsatiable sex addict who turns towards the men in the audience to satisfy her lust. (Front row audience members, you have also been warned.)
There’s another show tonight (Jan 22, 8pm) at The Esplanade Theatre Studio. So if you’re up for a wacky Friday night, catch this one.
