Arts

Gender in flux

by Anonymous .
Thursday Oct 16, 2014

Knock! The Daniel Kharms Project and La Traviata

Gender bending is all the rage at the Boston Center for the Arts and the Shubert Theatre. Make no mistake, this is no gimmick but rather a striking element that enhances strong productions at both venues-namely Imaginary Beasts' sublimely dark staging of "Knock! The Daniel Kharms Project" at the BCA's Black Box Theatre and Boston Lyric Opera's wonderfully heartfelt revival of the Verdi romantic classic "La Traviata." Imaginary Beasts, arguably the most original and innovative company in the Hub, once again explores new territory with exquisite results in "Knock!" while the BLO gives social butterfly Flora's lively Paris party in "La Traviata" a kinky ambience that contrasts sharply with heroine Violetta's purposeful rejection of the promiscuous life in requiting the passion of love-struck hero Alfredo.

Imaginary Beasts-part of the emerging theatre company program at the BCA- are developing a well-deserved reputation for awakening local audiences to rarely performed plays-particularly in rollicking revivals of works by Moliere- and introducing them to virtually un-staged fare-very notably in an evening of short works by closeted dramatist Thornton Wilder entitled "Little Giants." Now gifted out artistic director Matthew Woods-with an adaptation by company dramaturg Matthew McMahan and the troupe's ensemble- is showcasing short pieces by Kharms- a talented and individualistic Russian writer( born Daniil Ivanovitch Yevatchov) imprisoned and persecuted by Stalin- who died probably from starvation in 1941 Leningrad at the age of 42.

Kharms unique theatrical world ranges from buffoons sometimes turned Soviet police and a well-dressed, curtsying woman repeatedly interrupted while trying to chop wood to a writer struggling to write and another author transporting a suitcase stuffed with his own writings on a sled-writings that suggest Kharms own efforts, hidden for decades in a briefcase by Iakov Druskin, friend to both Kharms and his second wife Marina Malich . Wood and company arrestingly jump from scenario to scenario in a style meant to evoke Kharms' darkly humorous and edgy look at the precarious and frustration-ridden lives of men and women in his times-a look that also speaks to the uncertainty and vulnerability that many human beings experience around the world in our own day. Out actor Joey Pelletier captures the humorous etiquette that Olga Petrovna brings to each of her wood-chopping efforts, interrupted with a Sisyphus-recalling regularity by a man saying simply Knock!" Michael Underhill executes brilliant pratfalls and related stage moves as The Fool, William Schuller demonstrates amazing flexibility as author Fedya contorting himself in and around his writing table. Molly Kimmerling is very striking as The Babushka.

As usual, the Imaginary Beast players are as good as ensembles get in Boston. The same goes for IRNE Award-winning Cotton Talbot-Minkin's vivid costumes- which enhance both gender-bending and identity-transformations - and IRNE Award-winning Christopher Bocchiaro's nuanced use of shadow and varied lighting to reflect the fortunes and trials of individual; characters. Very few local companies-large or small- achieve the kind of breath-taking blend of imaginative staging and thematic risk-taking that this eye-catching troupe pulls off with Astaire-like ease and skill. Knock,knock. Who's there? Boston's unsung Imaginary Beasts-as worthy as Kharms' once-hidden treasure-trove of talent.

Knock! The Daniil Kharms Project, Black Box Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, through October 18. 617-933-8600 or Bostontheatrescene.com

"La Traviata" may be Verdi's romantic opera and Violetta his most heartbreaking heroine.BLO stage director Chas Rader Shieber has strikingly captured her transformation with a vocally strong and theatrically affecting performance by Anya Matanovic. Michael Wade Lee brings a lustrous lyric tenor delivery to the role of Alfredo Germont , though his acting in the early going could be more expressive. Their duets, however, are inspired and heartfelt. Weston Hurt is a revelation and a standout as early judgmental but later understanding father Giorgio Germont.

Mike Inwood's sublime lighting reaches a Caravaggio-suggesting intensity and radiance during Flora's party. Here Shieber has conveyed the decadence of this party-centered society-with the help of Jacob A. Climer's costumes- with intimations of menage -a -trois ,a man in top hat and underwear , women on all fours a la La Dolce Vita, and a distinctive mannishly -dressed reveler. Violetta's renunciation of this jet set adds significantly to the power of her sad fortunes.

La Traviata, Boston Lyric Opera, Shubert Theatre, through October 19. Blo.org