The Burning House Group
Review: "No One Will Be Immune"
Works in search of cohesion,
balance
Stephen Snyder, Minnesota Daily . Minneapolis, Minn.:
May 25, 2005 .
Burning House Group’s
production of short plays has fun with the enigma of Mamet’s
words
Something about “No One Will Be Immune’s” performance
at the Bryant-Lake Bowl
Theater seems perfectly appropriate, finding a natural balance
between space,
performers and text.
The theater, located only feet from restaurant
booths, a bar and crashing bowling balls,
has the feel of a workshop space. It is the type of intimate
performance environment
that has suffered so that national tours can play venues such
as the Ordway and
monopolize the minds and wallets of curious theatergoers.
But
here, things feel more organic, as if the work and the players
have something
greater than money on their minds.
Into this venue comes 11
short pieces from sparing playwright David Mamet.
Mamet’s
plays feel like works in search of cohesion and balance. To
listen to his
instantly identifiable, ambiguous dialogue, or to see a film
based on his screenplays
(“Spartan,” “Hannibal”) is to encounter
a series of riddles and surprises wrapped so
tightly that the fun is found in simply watching things unwind
back to the point of sanity.
Perhaps this is what makes “No
One Will Be Immune” that
much more delicious:
We get to see this process repeat itself,
over and over again. In some sense, this
serves as a Mamet workshop, capturing how he confuses the audiences
in the early
moments only to reel them back in at the end.
Most of the works
are extremely short, approximately five minutes, and vary in
tone
from whimsical, humorous bantering to heart-wrenching, emotional
monologues. The
most captivating of the works might also be the most obtuse.
Two people waiting for a
subway exchange bursts of small talk, until one becomes concerned
that the questions
are becoming too personal.
Here, humor digresses into suspicion
and frustration.
The tenth piece in the series is the longest,
running closer to 15 or 20 minutes, and is
quintessential Mamet. It evolves from a discussion about aliens
to one of plane crashes,
destiny, social norms and finally returns to where we came
in. And jumping between
these themes, it is as disturbing, involving, emotional and
bizarre as Mamet gets.
In all these pieces,
there is a moment of personal revelation or self-discovery.
Whereas
most plays’ storylines build to an explosive climax,
Mamet’s dialogue builds to a
moment of simple clarity, in which the truth behind this story
and these people is finally
revealed.
Given this focus on mystery, Matt Guidry and Ally
Baker deserve kudos for their brave
and lively performances. Guidry consistently plays the more
animated of the two-
character pieces, propelling the story as Baker focuses on
reactions.
But they remain committed and often succeed at speaking
to each other while really
conveying nothing at all. They run in place, as Mamet demands,
but with an interesting
variety and intensity of running styles.
Given the limitations
of the space, incorporating Jeff Toffler’s
music into the play itself is
another nice addition. There might only be three performers
in the production, all from
the local Burning House Group, but this never keeps “Immune” from
feeling lively and
on the move. |
