Just in from seeing The Double, a TheatreRUN production currently in performance at the Tarragon Extra Space. Here are my thoughts:
The Double, adapted from Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel of the same name, is a splendid love-child of absurd style and vaudevillian aesthetic.
There's mime work, caricature, sly (or not so sly) acknowledgement of the audience, and a darkly entertaining story. Ken Macenzie's set evokes a certain "Waiting for Godot" feel with its bare stage and stark lighting. I actually would call out Adré du Toit's lighting design as being as much a player in the show as anything else.
The story of the piece revolved around the "poor fellow" protagonist Gloyadkin, who works as a clerk, and is in love with Clara. She, however, is not in love with him, and he has recently been passed over for promotion. His boss, Clara's father.
In act one, we are introduced to our bass-playing narrator, performed by Arif Mirabdolbaghi. He begins narrating the rather sorry life of Golyadkin, played by Adam Paolozza, while Viktor Lukawski plays most everyone. It is a sorry, though amusing, affair of self-doubt and general unnotability. Almost anyone, it seems, might do a better job of Golyadkin's life than he. And at the end of the act, such a man appears. The double of the title, also played by Paolozza, and that is where the play takes off!
The performance of the show is highly stylized and artificial in nature, and while the pacing and shape of the play take some time to warm up to, it takes you for a good ride. Mirabdolbaghi's narration is smart, though not as sharp out of the gates as I would have liked. His performance on upright bass, however, is brilliant as he continually underscores the highly physical performances of his partners on the stage in a manner putting me in mind of a classic Warner cartoon, but more laid back.
Act I moves apace, and both Mirabdolbaghi and Lukawski do excellent work. It is in the second act, however, that these performers shine! Mirabdolbaghi moves between his two doppelganger characters with ease, at one point causing me to almost forget that they were the same actor. The pair of them reach a moment of brilliant physical theatre in what I can only describe as a moment of human puppetry.
As the show progresses, the script moves ever more firmly into absurdist territory, and progressing to an abrupt and satisfying, if somewhat cruelly humorous end.
This is not theatre to move you deeply or cause reexamination of much, but it does provide a good solid evening of theatre, and enough meat to talk about with your friends afterwards. Also, you will never really look at stringed instruments quite the same way again.
In a nutshell — a fully enjoyable evening of theatre that provides good conversation afterward. Recommended.
The Double runs until November 24th at the Tarragon Extraspace. Tickets available from http://tarragontheatre.com/
The Double, adapted from Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel of the same name, is a splendid love-child of absurd style and vaudevillian aesthetic.
There's mime work, caricature, sly (or not so sly) acknowledgement of the audience, and a darkly entertaining story. Ken Macenzie's set evokes a certain "Waiting for Godot" feel with its bare stage and stark lighting. I actually would call out Adré du Toit's lighting design as being as much a player in the show as anything else.
The story of the piece revolved around the "poor fellow" protagonist Gloyadkin, who works as a clerk, and is in love with Clara. She, however, is not in love with him, and he has recently been passed over for promotion. His boss, Clara's father.
In act one, we are introduced to our bass-playing narrator, performed by Arif Mirabdolbaghi. He begins narrating the rather sorry life of Golyadkin, played by Adam Paolozza, while Viktor Lukawski plays most everyone. It is a sorry, though amusing, affair of self-doubt and general unnotability. Almost anyone, it seems, might do a better job of Golyadkin's life than he. And at the end of the act, such a man appears. The double of the title, also played by Paolozza, and that is where the play takes off!
The performance of the show is highly stylized and artificial in nature, and while the pacing and shape of the play take some time to warm up to, it takes you for a good ride. Mirabdolbaghi's narration is smart, though not as sharp out of the gates as I would have liked. His performance on upright bass, however, is brilliant as he continually underscores the highly physical performances of his partners on the stage in a manner putting me in mind of a classic Warner cartoon, but more laid back.
Act I moves apace, and both Mirabdolbaghi and Lukawski do excellent work. It is in the second act, however, that these performers shine! Mirabdolbaghi moves between his two doppelganger characters with ease, at one point causing me to almost forget that they were the same actor. The pair of them reach a moment of brilliant physical theatre in what I can only describe as a moment of human puppetry.
As the show progresses, the script moves ever more firmly into absurdist territory, and progressing to an abrupt and satisfying, if somewhat cruelly humorous end.
This is not theatre to move you deeply or cause reexamination of much, but it does provide a good solid evening of theatre, and enough meat to talk about with your friends afterwards. Also, you will never really look at stringed instruments quite the same way again.
In a nutshell — a fully enjoyable evening of theatre that provides good conversation afterward. Recommended.
The Double runs until November 24th at the Tarragon Extraspace. Tickets available from http://tarragontheatre.com/