November 23
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| Charlene Baldridge Photo by Ken Howard |
The Oldest Boy
San Diego Rep Wednesday night (Nov. 18) – the opening of Sarah Ruhl’s The Oldest Boy, which was originally produced at Lincoln Center in 2014. By way of introduction in his curtain speech, Artistic Director Sam Woodhouse, who staged the gorgeous work, said Ruhl is the most produced female playwright in America. He also reminded us that this is the Rep’s 40th anniversary season. The Rep has performed Ruhl’s In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play and The Clean House.
One thing you can say about Ruhl’s work is that no two are alike. Another is that no matter how serious the subject, she always laces her plays with humor.
Set in an unnamed American city with a large Tibetan population, The Oldest Boy concerns a child (2-3 years old, represented by a puppet designed by Mark Robertson), his American mother (Amanda Sitton), his Tibetan father (Napoleon Tavale) and their unexpected Buddhist visitors from afar, a Lama (Albert Park) and a Monk (Christopher Aguilar).
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| Amanda Sitton and Tsering Dorjee Bawa Photo by Daren Scott |
The Lama and the Monk are convinced that the boy is the reincarnation of the Lama’s teacher, who was a very important man indeed. As Mother fears, they want to take the child to a Buddhist monastery in the Himalayas and to enthrone and educate him. She is sympathetic to Buddhism but not willing to sacrifice her son. As the Lama, Park has great appeal and an understanding of the humor and the humanity of his character, who eventually forms a very close relationship with Mother.
Early in the play, as she recounts their meeting and marriage, Mother tells how she and Father met. She was between classes. It was a cold and rainy day and she had no umbrella. She ducked into a Tibetan restaurant midway between lunch and dinner. She loved the food. The handsome proprietor, Father, scheduled to enter an arranged marriage with a woman he’s never met in two weeks, welcomed her. They fell in love, she stayed, and they married. This relationship sustains them both throughout the upheaval of their lives.
Sitton and Tavale have palpable chemistry, even as they travel to the monastery, the boy already having identified items that belonged to the teacher he embodies. It is a story deliciously told, interlaced with dance and music and pageantry played upon Sean Fanning’s clean, utilitarian set, and filled with color by Jennifer Brawn Gittings’ costumes. Jennifer Setlow is lighting designer, and Kevin Anthenill sound designer and Joe Huppertprojections designer.
Manipulating and voicing the puppet is a character called The Oldest Boy, portrayed by Tsering Dorjee Bawa, who is assisted by dancer/puppeteers Joyce Lai and Janissa Saracino. The work is further enhanced by authentic choreography (Bawa) and musical instruments that include percussion lent by N. Scott Robinson. Michael Roth provides additional music. Qi Zhang Holtzman is also listed as choreographer.
Plausible? You bet. The work is utterly sincere and exquisite.
The Oldest Boy continues Thursdays through Sundays through December 6, surrounded by all kinds of pertinent discussions (see schedule at web site). Tickets are $33-$66. www.sdrep.org or 619-544-1000. 79 Horton Plaza, Downtown San Diego.
The Aliens
Saturday at 4pm – the regional premiere of Annie Baker’s The Aliens, directed by Glenn Paris and Claudio Raygoza on the Elaine Lipinsky Stage. Baker wrote Circle Mirror Transformation, which was produced by New Village Arts early in 2014. At the same time, that theatre presented a reading of The Aliens that was so vivid I thought I’d seen the play produced.
Set in the backyard of a Vermont coffee shop, The Aliens is a study in inertia, a beautifully wrought, ‘shroom-fueled discourse about the nature of creativity and the poetry of Bukowski spun by drop outs convinced they are too good for the higher learning they eschewed. One is writing a great novel and the other composing songs based on mathematical theorems.
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| Tyler Oakley, Reed Willard and Brian Butler Photo courtesy of ion theatre |
The minute young Evan (Tyler Oakley) enters and says, “You guys aren’t supposed to be out here,” we realized that the play, which concerns the friendship of musically inclined KJ (Brian Butler) and the literary Jasper (Reed Williams), convinced they are genius material, was familiar. Jasper drops something about KJ’s “breakdown,” so we become convinced Jasper has the more tenuous grasp of reality of the two.
Meanwhile, they delight in Evan (first as an object of ridicule and then as malleable material, a high-school kid searching for himself intellectually and sexually. Catastrophe ensues and everyone is changed.
Paris and Raygoza’s casting of age appropriate men is impressive and so is the result, three finely turned-out performances that imbue the play with timeliness and emotional veracity. But this is a specialty of the ion guys. We’ve heard this kind of pain expressed in a million back rooms – in person, on stage and in the cinema – it is America, and it is youth.
The Aliens continues throughDecember 12. See web site for schedule and tickets. www.iontheatre.com
Jazz @ The Jacobs is launched
In contrast to the wastrels in The Aliens, genius and the fruits of diligence were on display Saturday night at the Jacobs, formally known as Jacobs Music Center. We found ourselves in a well-sold Copley Symphony Hall listening to “Living Jazz Legends,” the inaugural concert of four in the new series called “Jazz @ The Jacobs, sponsored by San Diego Symphony and curated by trumpet genius Gilbert Castellanos, recognized by Downbeat magazine as a new American master.
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| Charles McPherson Photo courtesy San Diego Symphony |
It was a masterfully planned program that featured my favorite jazz master artists, all of whom live in San Diego but seldom play here, namely saxophone Charles McPherson, pianist Mike Wofford, and flutist Holly Hofmann. To these, Castellanos added tenor saxophonist Tom Scott, veteran bassist Henry “The Skipper” Franklin, and bassist Marshall Hawkins. Add to these the icing on the cake, jazz vocalist Barbara Morrison. And don't forget drummer Roy McCurdy.
The generous evening began with an appearance by theInternational Academy of Jazz San Diego, 13 to 18 year-olds from area high schools. One hopes that the impressive youth stayed to hear the masters. There is always something to learn.
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| Gilbert Castellanos |
Next up is “Upright & Grand,” which features pianistsJoshua White, Helen Sung and Eric Reed, bassist Rodney Whitaker and Willie Jones III, in celebration of Jazz Piano Masters Thelonious Monk, Art Tatum and Bud Powers. Tickets at sdsymphony.com or 619-235-0804.
Be forewarned that the Ace Parking lots surrounding the Jacobs and in the hotel tower now charge $20.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.