"Lulu" - A Lulu
"Lulu" is audacious, eclectic, highly-charged, visually arresting, fast-paced, and enormously theatrical. The play, running at Yale Repertory Theatre through April 21, showcases performance talents of an energetic group of actors and the terrific director, Mark Lamos. It is also a disturbing work and one that, in all honesty, I would not recommend for the come-and-go theatre viewer.
Genesis of the eventual production: Reference "Monster Tragedy" (1894), "Earth Spirit" (1895), "Pandora's Box" (1903), and the silent film version of "Pandora's Box" (1928). And more. Now, Frank Wedekind (whose "Spring Awakening" is an NYC hit) has written a new version, Carl R. Mueller has translated German into English language, and Lamos and Drew Lichtenberg have adapted it for Yale Rep.
Lulu (startling Brienin Bryant) appears bare-breasted, early on, and in mid-air (thanks to a swing). She is lusted after, desirable, so enticing, and voracious. Men pursue her whatever her name at a given moment: Eve, Katja, Nellie, Mignon. The artist Walter Schwarz (Louis Cancelmi) paints her. Her husband Dr. Goll (Joe Vincent), very much her senior, wants the work. She dupes Dr. Schon (John Bedford Lloyd) into marrying her. Her next mariage (I think I have this in order) is with the physician's son, Alwa (Charles Socarides). These two go off to Paris but lose their wealth. Schigolch (Jordan Charney) is borderline evil. At last Jack (Cancelmi) kills Lulu. During various interludes actor Michael Braun plays an Animal Trainer; this, one gathers, is adjacent to the metaphor of "Lulu" as a dark, twisted circus of life's odd, edgy, menacing side.
Lamos, whose tenure as artistic at Hartford Stage, was nothing short of remarkable, had a tendency to lower scenic objects from the rafters. This technique works well at Yale Rep and the settings by Rumiko Ishii lend cosummate flair to the proceedings. Fake blood turn you on? See the show.
"Lulu," then, scores on a multitude of production elements, inclusive of Christina Bullard's eye-opening costumes. This is a visual extravaganza, one which features many a treat.
It's difficult to take an eye off Bryant, who is fetching and versatile. "Lulu" includes more than a tad of male nudity, especially during the opening sequence.
Lamos, ever the orchestrator, pushes pace throughout with positive results.
The literal definition of lulu? Extraordinary human. I recall my childhood when my parents would remark, upon occasion, "That's a lulu!" They were speaking of the absolutely outrageous. Such a phrase matches well with the spirit and actualization at Yale Rep.
www.yalerep.org
(203) 432-1234
Genesis of the eventual production: Reference "Monster Tragedy" (1894), "Earth Spirit" (1895), "Pandora's Box" (1903), and the silent film version of "Pandora's Box" (1928). And more. Now, Frank Wedekind (whose "Spring Awakening" is an NYC hit) has written a new version, Carl R. Mueller has translated German into English language, and Lamos and Drew Lichtenberg have adapted it for Yale Rep.
Lulu (startling Brienin Bryant) appears bare-breasted, early on, and in mid-air (thanks to a swing). She is lusted after, desirable, so enticing, and voracious. Men pursue her whatever her name at a given moment: Eve, Katja, Nellie, Mignon. The artist Walter Schwarz (Louis Cancelmi) paints her. Her husband Dr. Goll (Joe Vincent), very much her senior, wants the work. She dupes Dr. Schon (John Bedford Lloyd) into marrying her. Her next mariage (I think I have this in order) is with the physician's son, Alwa (Charles Socarides). These two go off to Paris but lose their wealth. Schigolch (Jordan Charney) is borderline evil. At last Jack (Cancelmi) kills Lulu. During various interludes actor Michael Braun plays an Animal Trainer; this, one gathers, is adjacent to the metaphor of "Lulu" as a dark, twisted circus of life's odd, edgy, menacing side.
Lamos, whose tenure as artistic at Hartford Stage, was nothing short of remarkable, had a tendency to lower scenic objects from the rafters. This technique works well at Yale Rep and the settings by Rumiko Ishii lend cosummate flair to the proceedings. Fake blood turn you on? See the show.
"Lulu," then, scores on a multitude of production elements, inclusive of Christina Bullard's eye-opening costumes. This is a visual extravaganza, one which features many a treat.
It's difficult to take an eye off Bryant, who is fetching and versatile. "Lulu" includes more than a tad of male nudity, especially during the opening sequence.
Lamos, ever the orchestrator, pushes pace throughout with positive results.
The literal definition of lulu? Extraordinary human. I recall my childhood when my parents would remark, upon occasion, "That's a lulu!" They were speaking of the absolutely outrageous. Such a phrase matches well with the spirit and actualization at Yale Rep.
www.yalerep.org
(203) 432-1234
posted by Fred Sokol at 9:52 AM
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