Every Sentence.... by The Moving Company at The Lab Theater

What do you expect from a show that is named "Every Sentence Is For The Birds: the journal of an encounter" and is inspired by the work of Francois Truffaut, Peter Handke, Denis Diderot and Maria Montessori? If you are me, you walk in with an open mind and absolutely no expectations. 75 mins later, you walk out with a wide-eyed look in your eyes, a sense of fascination, and questions, questions, questions that need to be researched. Personally, I LOVE shows like this. I love a show where I leave and I want to find out more about the subject, the inspiration, the writer, the actors, etc.

So, where to begin? As the website states, this show is about a brief encounter between a doctor and a "wild child" that evolves into a relationship and explores.....well, a lot. My thoughts are that it explored the building of a relationship between two people who are in a parent/child situation. Doctor Katherine (spelling is assumed) Godschild is walking in the forest and finds "O". She works with him and teaches him language, social skills, concepts, helps him grown and, to put it bluntly, civilizes him. Clearly there is more to it than that however I think that helps explain the core of the story, and why I saw it as a parent/child. Godschild (played by Suzanne Warmanen) sets the tone of the play by coming on, sitting down, and greeting the audience. The set is divided into two halves - the right half has a lab feel to it - two tables, chairs, sink towards the back wall, very white, clean, organized. The left side has two raised platforms with ramps. The back platform is covered in dirt, while the front one is covered in grass. Between these two playing areas is a nice, large, rectangular rug. Warmanen's Godschild (love the name) is so warm, inviting, smart but easy to follow. She explains her start, her inspiration. She is an anthropologist and is going to tell us about an encounter she had. Before that though she gives us background into the definitions of science and art. She explains how at one point in time both words were defined using similar words - human, skill, learning, and how they may have been seen as similar skill sets. Science now is thought of as separating, while art is thought of as joining. After this amazing, smart, and eye-opening talk, she starts the story of meeting "0".

In a walk in the forest she hears a noise. She stops, thinking it an animal, and she recognizes that it also stops. She considers that perhaps it is a "wild child" as were found in the forests at times...children that had been abandoned by their parents and grew up wild. She returns the next day at the same time, as does this noise. She sits, and the noise is quiet - as if it is also sitting. Suddenly we hear dirt falling, and shifting, and a hand is reaching out from the pile of dirt. A man appears slowly - dirty and wearing little. Godschild starts building the relationship by leaving a piece of orange - and the rest I will leave for you to see. The man is played by Nathan Keepers. Eventually we get to know him as "0."

I can honestly say that I have never seen a performance like this before. The show was conceived by Dominique Serrand (the director) and Nathan Keepers. It was written and created by the two of them and Suzanne Warmanen. We found out post show (during a quick announcement) that they started rehearsals on April 4 and opened on April 22. Watching these two amazing actors work with each other, play with each other, play off of each other - there was some incredible work done in a very short time. Nathan and Suzanne are simply incredible - Nathan in constant movement, exploring the world, learning in front of our eyes, while Suzanne is the constant bedrock, the audiences gateway into the relationship and the play, the eyes we see "0" through. This is the first work by The Moving Company that I have seen and it was so good. (I used amazing and incredible quite a bit already and so am going back to basics...with a LOT of meaning and emphasis).

Now, how is it inspired by the four names I first mentioned? That is a great question. I do not know if I have the answer but here are my thoughts. Clearly Maria Montessori is all about education and a simple, yet radical way of learning. Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic and writer during the Enlightenment. From the brief bit of research I did, I saw that he wrote a book called "Letter on the Blind." This book was a study on the relationship between reason and learning that takes place through just the five senses. Diderot is also quoted in the program:

"A storyteller has a personality, a point of view, standards, and passions which lead them to exaggerate or understate. Just tell it the way it is, indeed! That's something that probably doesn't even happen twice a day anywhere. Besides, is the listener any more impartial than the speaker? No. Which accounts for the fact that it scarcely happens twice in any day that people really hear what is being said to them."

The next two inspirations, I think, are more about form. Peter Handke is an Austrian writer who tends toward the avant-garde. He also wrote a work called Kaspar which dealt with a foundling who is destroyed by society. Along with Handke, the show was inspired by the work of Francois Truffaut - the French New Wave film director. Now, I have to confess that I do not know the works of Truffaut...yet. So, if you are a fan of Truffaut - let me know if you can see his inspiration in this new work by The Moving Company. Every Sentence Is For The Birds: the journal of an encounter plays at The Lab Theater till May 22nd. You have over two weeks to see it but don't wait. At 75min, no intermission, and the subject matter - you may want to give yourself enough time to see it twice. There is so much food for thought and such brilliant performances.

Constellations at the Jungle Theater

Beekeeping and quantum mechanics mixed with the multiverse - that is what to expect when seeing Constellations at the Jungle Theater. This play is an amazing kaleidoscope of ideas, options, and chances all mixed into a two-person show. Written by Nick Payne, Constellations is about Roland (Ron Menzel) and Marianne (Anna Sundberg) who meet at a barbecue. Roland is a beekeeper while Marianne is a theoretical physicist - a very unlikely combination. There are several attempts at starting a conversation, each time the characters come to an impasse the scene starts again. When the conversation actually continues, the scene continues. In less talented hands this could look like a high school production of the "first date sketch" in which a bell rings each time the date doesn't work out.

Photo: Dan Norman

Lucky for us this incredible cast, under the precise direction of Gary Gisselman, transforms this work into an amazing show about two people and how each interaction changes their lives. Take the opening scene. Each time the characters come to an impasse the scene starts again. However we start to ask ourselves - is it the same characters making another attempt at connecting? Or is it the same characters in a different universe which creates the alternate outcome of the conversation? I felt the play showed multiple versions of events which really highlights how each choice we make affects our lives and the lives of others. The multiverse is the main through line to this show. That is not to say the characters don't have a storyline. It is fascinating and mesmerizing to watch these actors play similar scenes repeatedly but each scene is played slightly differently - either in attitude, or physicality, or small changes in the words. Roland and Marianne (in some universe) meet, date, are in a relationship, break-up (because she cheats multiple times, or he cheats once), meet again at a ballroom class (some very sweet and simple choreography from Myron Johnson), get married, and deal with death. In one universe there is possible abuse, in another there is a brain tumor in the frontal lobe that may or may not lead to assisted suicide. All I can really say is that this show provides a lot to think about while also providing laughs, sighs of romantic joy, tears, and simple wonder.

I have already mentioned that the cast and direction were singular and incredible. The other thing that I have to mention is the set by Kate Sutton-Johnson. The directors note states "...a new play whose only stage direction is 'with every change of font there is a change of universe.' And there are sixty changes of font." How do you design for that? Sutton-Johnson found the perfect solution by creating a multi-level set with angles and curves through out. There are lines painted on the set, radiating in various directions. There are also metallic bands set across the top of the set, along the back and sides of the set creating an abstract sculpture for the actors to work on. Occasionally the bands would reflect light into the audience creating a shimmer - reminding us of the multitude of stars (and possible universes) in the sky at night. The program provides more insight into her process, along with some fantastic background to the science of the show, beekeeping, and a list of four books available at Magers & Quinn to further explore the ideas behind the play. I had an amazing, talk-creating experience watching Constellations. It plays through May 29th so there is plenty of time to see it, but if it gets reviews like it did on Broadway, I have a sense that the sooner the better.