Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Streaming Diary: V’s moving docudrama THAT KINDNESS, Anne Washburn’s ambitious but wildly uneven SHIPWRECK, and NYCB’s well-balanced season continues

• By drediman
• October 22, 2020
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Autumn in New York typically correlates with a noticeable uptick in the number of offerings available for consumption for performing arts lovers. Although everything is basically virtual these days, the same dynamic, thankfully, has been vaguely discernible in the performing arts industry during the few weeks since the onset of fall. Here are my thoughts on some of this past week’s experiences, as enjoyed from the comfort of my apartment.

V’s THAT KINDNESS compassionately champions nurses

Brooklyn Academy of Music‘s virtual fall season got off to an effective start with That Kindess: Nurses in Their Own Words (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) by V (formerly Eve Ensler). The moving, straightforward piece – which actively champions and cherishes nurses and their contributions to the American healthcare system – takes the same collage-like form as other like-minded docudramas (the most recent being Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen’s COVID-19 first responders drama The Line, which was streamed via the Public Theater earlier this year). Similarly, That Kindness neatly weaves together a tapestry of interviews, verbatim. In this case, the accounts were provided by several representatives of the nursing profession, who share their personal thoughts on their vocational calling, and how it’s been tested during the pandemic. The work clearly highlights V’s deep affection and respect towards nurses, which first came to light for me in In the Body of the World, the playwright’s harrowing but warm-hearted solo account of her bout with uterine cancer. The star-studded cast – featuring such recognizable talents as Marisa Tomei, Billy Porter, LaChanze, and Rosario Dawson – compassionately and passionately embody the men and women whose words are memorialized in V’s work. Indeed, they all but disappear into these heroic modern-day angels, whose purity of intent is inspiring, to say the least, and a cause for celebration.

Anne Washburn’s wildly ambitious SHIPWRECK is a glorious mess

This week, I also got a chance to listen to the podcast version of Anne Washburn’s latest play Shipwreck (SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED). A co-production between the Public Theater and Washington DC’s Woolly Mammoth (where it was actually staged in a live production earlier this year), the podcast – first seen at London’s prestigious Almeida Theatre – continues to indulge Ms. Washburn’s curiosity in expanding American iconography into mythology, a fascination so brilliantly on-point in her earlier play Mr. Burns, A Post Electric Play. In short, the playwright’s latest effort is ambitious, for sure, but also a bit of a glorious mess. Set not that long ago in 2017, Shipwrieck follows three disparate narrative strands – a teetering dinner party amongst intentionally infuriating liberals, a candid confession from a white farmer regarding his adoption of a Kenyan boy, and a phantasmagorical account of a fictitious meeting between President Trump and James Comey. In each scenario, Ms. Washburn tries hard to satirically show both sides of the coin in order to illuminate, as well as illicit outrage. Unfortunately, at least in its current unruly state, the play feels a bit gratuitous, wildly uneven, and somewhat incomplete. Thankfully, the actors featured in the podcast make Ms. Washburn’s main points loud and clear, while still managing to have a ball in the process (an only-audible Raul Esparza somehow still manages to chew the scenery). Without their game efforts, Ms. Washburn’s sprawling political fantasia could have well turned out to be a frustrating experience.

City Ballet continues to roll out a well-balanced virtual fall season

New York City Ballet continues its digital fall season, last week with a program entitled “Classic NYCB”, and this week with “21st Century Voices” (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). Collectively, the fall season so far – primarily comprised of filmed past performances from the company’s vast archives – has been exceptionally well-balanced, and certainly more satisfying than the less comprehensive and generously curated spring season (which was also virtual). Highlights from the “Classic NYCB” program included a delightfully light performance by Megan Fairchild and Anthony Huxley in Balanchine’s Duo Concertant, as well as fortifying efforts from the company’s deep bench in excerpts from Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering and Balanchine’s Symphony in C (both are iconic). This week’s collection of dances singled out three flagship contemporary choreographers: Justin Peck (Rodeo, Year of the Rabbit, Everywhere We Go), Alexei Ratmansky (Pictures at an Exhibition, Russian Seasons), and Chrisopher Wheeldon (Polyphonia, Mercurial Manoeuvres), each of which has produced inspired works for City Ballet over the years. Seeing their works side-by-side, I more pronouncedly appreciated how distinct their philosophical approaches to dance are. Of the three styles, I’d say I’m partial to Mr. Ratmansky’s impressionistic marriage of dance and theater, which was exemplified beautifully in this week’s bill. Having had an excellent primer via these contemporary choreographic masters, my appetite is now whetted for City Ballet’s festival of new works, which is set to unveil next week.