<< Theatre
24 • BAY AREA REPORTER • November 26-December 2, 2015
Equestrian enticements by Richard Dodds
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nyone with an addiction to beauty might consider getting a fix from the gang of horse-pushers on the waterfront. This gorgeous high comes courtesy of Odysseo, a followup spectacle to Cavalia, which twice before has pitched its enormous tent near AT&T Park. The new show successfully outdoes its predecessor in terms of equine and human derringdo, as well as sheer visual spectacle, with a Cinerama-style curved screen providing epic backdrops in a def so high that it’s hard to know where the screen ends and the contoured earthen stage begins. After some oohing and aahing as a single horse wanders onto the stage, soon to be followed by other seemingly unguided horses in one of the show’s “Liberty” segments, the riders and handlers arrive to create scene after scene of stunning imagery. Then, at one point in the first act, seemingly bursting from the huge screen, a phalanx of horses with riders in Cossack-style costumes comes descending down the hill (the company travels with 10,000 tons of its own dirt) that abuts the big screen upstage. This is the first of the numerous big-gasp moments that will follow.
A full-sized carousel may descend from the rafters, horses can arrive on stage at full gallop thanks to unseen runways on either side of the stage, riders in white silks arise like angels from the backs of horses into the air, and a lake forms on what had been the performing grounds through which the horses now exuberantly splash. What’s perhaps most magical is the seeming complicity of the horses in performing in alliance with each other and their human counterparts, who may or may not be directly at the reins. When a wayward horse in a riderless routine decided to leave the formation with some defiant shakes of his head, all eyes were of course on him rather than his behaving brethren. One of the performers quietly listened to his complaints, and after a few soft words, the horse agreed to rejoin the performance. This, of course, is from the human point of view, the notion of that bond between species that we can only hope is true. Press material for Odysseo promises a pampered offstage life for the horses, including free-range recreation and massages, and training methods “designed to ensure that the horses enjoy training and performing.” There are 65 horses, all male, in the
Color-ish Company
Cavalia’s Odysseo, a big-top spectacle that travels with 45 performers and 65 horses, is now performing in its big-top tent near AT&T Park.
company, and the program provides a name, breed, age, nationality, and specialty for each. Some are known by such basic names as Bud, Chief, Rocky, and Gus, but my favorites include Embaixador, Nezma, Furioso, and E-Vogue. On any given night, not all of the 65 will perform, with the moods of the horses taken into account before show time. Those who are performing get occasional breathers as acrobats take to the stage to showcase their distinct talents.
A troupe from Guinea in Africa specializes in backflips at ridiculous speeds, there are aerialists on furiously spinning hoops, and performers in spring-loaded appendages known as urban stilts that let them jump over the same hurdles as the horses. Many of the performers, unfortunately, tend to solicit applause, which puts a small damper on what would be forthcoming anyway, though perhaps diminishing as the same maneuvers are often repeated
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in what can begin to feel like filler. A live band and a female singer perform new-age songs in a language sounding something like Esperanto by Enya. It’s in the Cirque du Soleil tradition, and there are other parallels to that institution since Cavalia’s founder and artistic director Normand Latourelle was a co-creator of Cirque du Soleil. But the Cavalia shows are less avant-gauzy than those from Cirque and don’t even pretend to have a story that is usually impossible to decipher at any rate. Ironically, perhaps, the most crowd-pleasing moments are those with the stunt patina of a Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, as saddled riders maneuver themselves over, under, and around the horses as they gallop across the stage. But unlike Buffalo Bill’s show, which recreated the slaughter of Custer’s Last Stand, Odysseo draws the audience into chanting “O walu guere moufan” before revealing that the indigenous Guinean words mean “No more war on Earth.” From the horses’ lips to God’s ears.t Odysseo will run under the big top near AT&T Park through Jan. 10. Tickets are $44.50-$289.50. Call (866) 999-8111or go to www. cavalia.net.
Brutalist force by Richard Dodds
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hey did the mash. They did the monster mash. Or more accurately, the monster mash-up. In The Monster-Builder, Amy Freed’s play at the Aurora Theatre, you may detect influences from Ibsen to Dracula, Mel Brooks to Albert Speer, Marx Brothers to The Phantom of the Opera, and Faust to Frankenstein. It depends upon which minute of the play you’re watching. For most of those minutes, this theatrical hydra provides a heady stream of entertainment, losing its way only after Danny Scheie’s character has been dispatched near the end. Scheie plays a world-renowned architect with a brutalist vision that is both alarming and hilarious. Highbrows, at least those who don’t have to actually occupy his edifices, adore his work. His design for an Alzheimer’s facility included a maze that patients must navigate to get back to their rooms, and he is presently at work on his masterpiece: the Abu Dhabi Tower of Justice and Interrogation. Gregor Zubrowski lives in a tro-
David Allen
A young architect played by Tracy Hazas battles with a superstar architect played by Danny Scheie in The Monster-Builder at Aurora Theatre.
phy house filled with sharp angles that defies visitors to find a place to sit. His current trophy companion (a humorously spacey Sierra Jolene) invites a college friend (an appealing Tracy Hazas) and her husband (a testy Thomas Gorrebeeck), aspiring ar-
chitects themselves, to meet the great Zubrowski. With authoritarian graciousness, he regales his guests with his impossibly opaque theories on architecture designed to “stand between people and their preferences.” He’s amused by young architect Di-
eter’s socially conscious jabs, and he’s taken with Dieter’s comely spouse and design partner Rita in ways that go beyond convivial shoptalk. Matters have only a suggestion of the ominous, and before they become more so, there is a diversion into another style of comedy – perhaps it’s a taste of Christopher Durang – as Dieter and Rita try to land a remodeling job with a moneyed socialite (a merrily flaky Nancy Carlin) and her rags-to-riches husband (a gruffly comic Rod Gnapp). The idealistic designers need the job, but also want to apply their talents toward the civic good. They think they have found this project in restoring an old boathouse into a kind of community center, and all is going swimmingly until Gregor jealously snatches the project away. As the play progresses, Gregor’s evil core increasingly reveals itself and draws Rita under his spell. There then come some slapstick, inside-y architect jokes, murder, zany banter, and increasing suggestions that Gregor is not only a fascist but also one who had face time the Fuehrer himself. While Freed’s
stylistic zigs and zags are usually humorous within themselves, and Art Manke’s direction is in tune with that, Scheie’s performance provides the needed glue. As Gregor, Scheie channels his outlandish comic instincts into a more tightly wound container. But absurdity can only be held at bay to a point, as the playwright and the performer gleefully lessen the restraints. But there needs to be a payoff if shackles on even a quasi-reality are loosened, and here the play begins its stumble to the final curtain. A supernatural buildup fizzles with a weak reveal, and the purpose of a champagne-and-confetti last scene is unclear and certainly sends a mixed message of seemingly inadvertent ambiguity. As in, if there are any good guys, which ones are they? It seems to be a celebration of mediocrity and bad taste, which might be ironic, if the alternative weren’t a sadistic Nazi vampire.t The Monster-Builder will run at Aurora Theatre through Dec. 13. Tickets are $32-$50. Call (510) 8434822 or go the auroratheatre.org.
World AIDS Day special by David-Elijah Nahmod
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he most startling revelation in HBO’s Countdown to Zero is an interview with former President George W. Bush, who recalls his commitment to fighting AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. President Bush raised the ire of millions during his administration when he ignored warnings about 9/11, pursued a war against Iraq, and publicly opposed marriage equality. But facts are facts. Pres. Bush also committed billions to researchers who were fighting the spread of HIV in countries like Rwanda, ultimately helping to stop the transition of HIV from mother to child in that country. Countdown to Zero is a special episode of Vice, HBO’s Emmy-winning newsmagazine. Co-produced by Bill Maher and Shane Smith of Vice magazine, Vice presents in-depth, no-holds-barred looks at a variety of topics. CNN correspondent Fareed
Zakaria serves as a consultant. HBO describes Countdown to Zero as a Vice “special report” that will premiere on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, at 9 p.m. The episode will air in rotation throughout December, and will be available on demand on Dec. 16. Countdown to Zero opens with a collage of 1980s news clips that recall the horror and tragedy of the AIDS epidemic’s early days. We see emaciated gay men in their 20s and 30s, some of whom look like they could be in their 80s. Several are covered in Kaposi Sarcoma lesions, a rare skin cancer that led many early AIDS sufferers to a painful and horrifying death. We also see enraged activists demanding that critical, life-saving medications be made available. Older viewers might recognize the late author/gay film historian/AIDS activist Vito Russo (1946-90), who is sometimes unjustly forgotten by AIDS historians. Countdown to Zero is divided into
Courtesy HBO
Scene from HBO’s Vice: Countdown to Zero.
a series of segments that illustrate how doctors and researchers have fought – and continue to fight – to make HIV become the manageable illness it now is, and not the death
sentence it once was. They keep their eye on the prize: a permanent cure. Visits to AIDS-ravaged countries like South Africa and Rwanda are included. There’s also a segment
shot in the Castro, which was once the disease’s epicenter. Doctors at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle speak on-camera of the work they do and the amazing strides they’ve made, though they acknowledge that the battle isn’t over. Viewers will also meet Palm Springs resident Timothy Ray Brown, the first person to be considered officially cured of AIDS. The treatments Brown received are discussed. It’s hoped that what was done for Brown can be replicated in others. The importance of PrEP, a daily HIV-prevention pill, is also discussed. As Countdown to Zero shows, we’ve come a long way since July 3, 1981, when a New York Times headline proclaimed “Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals.” It’s now possible to live with HIV. Will we see a permanent cure during our lifetimes? The scientists who appear in Countdown to Zero are hopeful.t