.. YOU BETTER WATCH OUT.... KISS's LAST TOUR BEFORE MAKEUP REMOVAL...
I may wind up no longer being the Minister of Silly Walks. What I haven't examined closely is how that can actually be a negative - in theory; I should clarify; I don't see it negatively in any way at all.. i.e., what part of my identity will die with the fact that my CP isn't as severe anymore? Will I still be able to claim title as New York's Only CP Boylesque Performer if I don't look or move or feel as I did before the rhizotomy? Hmmm.. *philosopher's pipesmoke curlyq treads across room*... *farts*
TALES OF THE LOST FORMICANS REVIEWS
..Sent via e-mail by S. Barton-Farcas:..
All- Scott did box last night - aside from that, let me send on to you what Scott said.
"I just wanted to wish them all congratulations on the show. I was genuinely moved and engaged all night and I thought the whole production was really inventive and subtle. As a company member, I got to read the script 2 or 3 times earlier in the year and I just thought, "This is such a strange script" and I couldn't conceptualize it on the stage. Obviously, those reads gave me background in it the average audience member doesn't have - but I just thought last night's performance was so beautiful. All the actors, so subtle; yet heart-breaking. I mean ALL the actors. The Mother/Grandmother, The Father, Both Mother/Daughters, The Neighbor, The Son & The Aliens. Such good work, and in their own way. I wanted to go by each cast member and tell them my favorite scene of theirs. It was just really inspiring. And of course, congrats to the director, designers and crew who took this script and made it so beautifully done. As an actor, I know sometimes you are doing work, in a small OOB theater, and only 12 audience members show up, and no one laughs at anything, and you hear them unwrapping their candies or talking to their friend in the audience and you think to yourself, "What am I doing up here?" That was not what was happening last night at all - but just so the actors know - I was really touched by this piece. I have no personal experience to Alzheimer's, but I do to family sickness, and I really appreciated the professional, high quality of such subtle yet powerful performances. It's clichéd, but, I laughed, I cried and I wanted to work with every single actor up there. They should all feel proud of their work."
So there!- S. Barton-Farcas, Artistic Director
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Stage Buzz Review - Tales of the Lost Formicans (Nicu’s Spoon)
by Byrne Harrison
An alien, describing the culture of the Formicans (its name for late 20th century Americans), in Constance Congdon’s Tales of the Lost Formicans, refers to it as “complex, but strangely intangible.†This is also a perfect description of Congdon’s play. Dealing with aliens, Alzheimer’s, the disintegration of the family, middle-class apathy, and any number of other subjects, the play is hard to classify, and even harder to describe. Luckily, Congdon’s play seems to be about taking away whatever message resonates most with each individual audience member. Don’t be surprised if you take away a completely different message than everyone else. The main story concerns Cathy (Rebecca Challis), a woman whose husband has left her for a much younger woman. She leaves her life in New York and, son Eric (Nico Phillips) in tow, returns to Colorado to live with her parents, Evelyn (Celia Bressack) and Jim (Brian J. Coffey). Jim is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and gets progressively worse over the course of the play. Dealing with her father, her perpetually angry teenage son, and the attentions of Jerry (Michael Hartney), the local conspiracy nut, proves to be almost more than she can handle. And then there are the aliens. Rather than writing a basic family drama, Congdon presents the audience with an anthropology lesson, as a group of aliens observe and attempt to understand the lives of this group of humans. They get most of it wrong, but of course, that’s the point. The results force us to view ourselves and our lives in a different light. Nicu’s Spoon is an extraordinary company in that they celebrate the diversity of acting talent in the city by casting “multi-racial, multi-abled, multi-aged, and multi-gendered talent.†The cast of Formican’s certainly is true to that mission, and generally speaking, they are a diverse and talented group. Two actors in particular, Michael Hartney and Brian J. Coffey, are outstanding. Hartney, as the socially awkward Jerry, creates a character that is so sympathetic, it almost physically hurts every time he says or does the wrong thing. And watching Coffey’s Jim devolve from a robust foreman to a confused, shuffling old man is heartbreaking. My main problem with the play, and sadly one which I couldn’t overcome, is that the world that Congdon was writing about in the late ‘80s doesn’t seem as relevant now. Congdon’s Formicans were on the verge of winning the Cold War. Though there was a Bush in the White House, they had yet to experience the first Gulf War. 9/11 wasn’t even something they could have conceived of. Their America, pre-cell phones and the Internet, seems almost quaint. In an effort to overcome this, director Brett Maughan shifts the play to present day America and adds in references to Bush and Iraq. Unfortunately, this just makes it seem more out of place, or rather, out of time. Of course certain aspects of the show still resonate – dealing with Alzheimer’s, divorce, intergenerational family issues, etc. But it just doesn’t seem to be enough to make the show work as a whole. While Nicu’s Spoon is certainly a company to watch, their upcoming production of Shakespeare’s Richard III might prove a better showcase for their talents and their unique mission.
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OffOffOnline.com
Aliens Amongst Us by RL Nesvet
Tales of the Lost Formicans reviewed March 29, 2007
When Constance Congdon's play Tales of the Lost Formicans was first produced, at the Humana Festival in 1989, it introduced American audiences to a strange new planet. The play's revival, directed by Brett Maughan for the theater company Nicu's Spoon, takes New Yorkers on a funny, tragic, and insightful return voyage to Congdon's otherworld. On this terra incognita, "wheeled sarcophagi" that look strangely like cars "are used to carry the spirits to the next world"; masturbation is a religious ritual; and the "wobble" of domestic furniture is due to "climate change or some other entropic reality." However, the anthropologists examining the mystery planet are space aliens, and their brave new world is earth: specifically, the suburbs of the United States. While newly divorced mother Cathy struggles to keep her family together despite her son's teenage rebellion, her father's descent into the oblivion of Alzheimer's disease, and her own loneliness, the aliens, too, try to make sense of her life. Finally, there's the neighborhood conspiracy theorist, who has an explanation for everything except his desire for Cathy. Formicans is a brilliant play. The language that Congdon invents for her alien characters is specific and often hilarious, full of the kinds of insights that come from refusing to look at anything in the usual way. "Offspring are born without wheels and must acquire their own," observe the aliens, plopped down near skateboarding kids and a Corvette. The characterization of the humans is realistic, often painfully so. When Cathy's father, once a brilliant mechanist, fixes the aliens' equipment, only to find his memory of the incident wiped out by them, Congdon reveals what life must seem like to an Alzheimer's sufferer. Several strong actors carry this production. The versatile Brian J. Coffey makes Cathy's father appear confused and lucid, gentle and frightening, as occasion demands. Lindsay Goranson provides extra comic relief as Cathy's daffy best friend. As the paranoid yet empathetic neighbor, Michael Hartney nearly steals the show. His crystal-clear physical acting and expressive face make this character an archetype rather than a stock type. As the Head Alien, Jovinna Chan delivers her conclusions in a robotic deadpan with just enough evident confusion to avoid becoming monotonous. The cast is not uniformly strong, however. Rebecca Challis, as Cathy, struggles to play a character who is much older than her playing age. I found her scenes with her parents more convincing than those with her son, Eric (Nico Phillips). Although listed in the program as a "theatrical guru," Phillips lacks the subtle and three-dimensional acting that his role requires. In the first act, Phillips shouts most of his lines with little expression, making Eric appear a simple bully, not a troubled young man whose aggression masks his vulnerability and fear. In a scene in the second act in which Eric, sleeping rough in an inhospitable city, is confronted by a cop, it did not seem as if the boy was afraid. The aliens' costumes are simply yet boldly designed by Rien Schlecht, in streamlined black with white wraparound shades. The set, by Maughan and S. Barton-Farcas, is less effective. A hollow wooden box represented a desk, bar, Corvette, and other objects and locations. Its underside was hollow and unfinished, and it is moved or turned throughout the play. This made scene changes lengthy, slowing down the play's momentum. Several times, actors noisily moved this wooden monolith while other actors were talking, making it hard to hear the dialogue or pay attention to the action. In sum, this production of Formicans has some kinks that need working out, but the play is a modern masterpiece, generally well acted here. Its small, odd, funny, and haunting world is a place well worth visiting.
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BackStage Magazine (BackStage.com)
Tales of the Lost Formicans April 03, 2007 By Jerry Portwood
In Tales of the Lost Formicans, Constance Congdon's satirical critique of 1980s suburbia, a cadre of friendly aliens -- amusingly outfitted with almond-shaped sunglasses -- is replaying scenes from American suburbia to puzzle out the complexities of the family unit. It's a sad fact that the play seems just as fitting nearly 20 years after its first production: The mall still reigns supreme, adolescent angst hasn't evolved, and petty squabbles continue to consume countless hours of family time. After her divorce, Cathy (Rebecca Challis) returns to her childhood home in Colorado with her disgruntled son Eric (Nico Phillips). But her own problems take a back seat to her mother's (Celia Bressack) when it becomes obvious that Cathy's father (Brian J. Coffey) is rapidly aging. The play clocks in at over two hours and, due to some of director Brett Maughan's unfortunate choices, feels interminably long for something that's not breaking any new ground. Nicu's Spoon's current season is dedicated to exploring issues of disability and working with disabled artists; with Formicans, the company tackles the subject of Alzheimer's disease and has in the cast an actor with cerebral palsy (Phillips). However, the production suffers from its own handicaps that could be readily solved: slow pacing, awkward blocking, and a weighty set piece -- functioning as a bed, a bar, and other various locales -- that must be dragged and flipped and slid by the cast and crew. Two actors in smaller roles overcome the directorial limitations to shine. Lindsay Goranson plays Cathy's hometown friend Judy with a vitality and humor that exceed the flatly written part and earn the few laughs the play so dearly needs. Likewise, Michael Hartney as crackpot neighbor Jerry humanizes his role as a conspiracy-theorizing nurse on the brink of suicide. He may not be a "typical" human, but he's the best thing going in this production -- tinfoil hat and all.
http://www.backstage.com/bso/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_ content_id=1003566769
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Theatre of the Mind: Tales of the Lost Formicans Review by Deborah S. Greenhut Written By Constance Congdon Directed by Brett Maughan Nicu’s Spoon (http://www.spoontheater.org )
They say that ants can pull 50 times their weight, but the disabled humans do plenty of hauling as they seek their ideal forms in Constance Congdon’s poignant tale of aliens, Alzheimer’s and adolescence, produced by Nicu’s Spoon. Director Brett Maughan ensures that the audience enters the world of the play immediately in this compact black box theater by offering high production values and a scene already in progress. The play introduces male nurse Jerry’s world (Michael Hartney) as an entree into the human hive. Soon, the Formicans arrive, bearing an exceptionally well-costumed (Rien Schlecht) resemblance to ants. Three aliens (Jovinna Chan, Russell Waldman, and Dirk Smile) and an additional mannequin come to terms with human experience while wrestling a chair around various human dilemmas experienced by the expertly played Alzheimer’s victim Jim (Brian Coffey) and his long-suffering, but compassionate, wife, Evelyn (Celia Bressack). Adding to the occasionally comic, yet deeply frustrating onset of the disorder is a visit from their divorced daughter, Cathy (Rebecca Challis), accompanied by her disabled Goth son, Eric (Nico Phillips). Cathy’s friend Judy (Lindsay Goranson) provides a naturalistic counterpart to the anxious clan of Jim. The production’s technical design supports Congdon’s intention with many interesting visual and auditory moments. The set design incorporates light, sound, and heavy lifting pieces that suggest an ant farm populated by people. Thomas Cassetta’s sound direction is excellent; producer Stephanie Barton-Farcas can be complimented for ensuring that sounds always come from the correct objects. Lighting (Steven Wolf) includes an excellent palette of alien greens and blues, and the drama is heightened through effective light and shadow. Audiences may respond slowly to Congdon’s deft humor, but the tragic pathos of the character’s struggle is easily available thanks to the excellent performances of Coffey, Phillips, and Hartney. At times, characters seem too focused on their own worlds -- their individual intentions can be seen a bit too well -- but strong direction by Maughan ultimately transcends these issues when the emotional payoff becomes necessary. The play is a wonderful metaphor for the function of theater. One could accomplish a great deal by sitting and listening. And the point of all the lifting of chairs? “Never force anything.†Congdon has lent an ear to Plato in this sequence of terse epitomes about finding one’s form: “All you have to do is gather it in.†http://www.oobr.com/top/volThirteen/four/formicans.htmCreate or get your
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