THE HANGOVER REPORT – Clarence Coo poetically excavates memory, love, and art in the issue-conscious ON THAT DAY IN AMSTERDAM

The company of Primary Stages’ production of “On that Day in Amsterdam” by Clarence Coo at 59E59 Theaters (photo by Carol Rosegg).


I recently had the chance to take in Primary Stages’ latest premiere, Clarence Coo‘s On that Day in Amsterdam. The new play — which is currently in performance at 59E59 Theaters (where the theater company is in residence) — is told through the perspective of Kevin, a Filipino-American writer who endeavors to reconstruct, in hindsight, an impactful but fleeting day in Amsterdam when he fatefully meets and spends an increasingly romantic day with Sammy, an in-transit Middle Eastern refugee who is about to embark on a treacherous journey to London.

Clarence Coo’s play — which in premise is reminiscent of romantic indie films like Before Sunset — is poetically told through the hazy gauze of memory (in fact, the piece is entirely played out behind a translucent scrim, onto which video images are projected). Themes are organically weaved in and out of the play like motifs of a symphony as Coo excavates notions of memory, love, and art — and their relationship with each other. That being said, the playwright isn’t only interested in merely being fanciful; he is also conscious of and keenly interested in incorporating pressing contemporary issues (e.g. the global refugee crisis, undocumented immigration, queer identity, etc.), which brings urgency and specificity that contribute to the play’s excavating emotional heat.

Director Zi Alikhan (assisted by Jesse Kovarsky, who provides the production’s movement direction) matches Coo’s poetic inclination with a dreamlike, visually arresting multimedia staging that seeks to maximize the audience’s sensory experience. As Kevin, Glenn Morizio evolves the character with aching introspection and active regret. At the performance I attended, the role of Sammy was played by Ahmad Maksoud, who hauntingly imbues the character with a soulful vulnerability. The rest of the ensemble cast play a roster of roles with nimble grace.

RECOMMENDED

ON THAT DAY IN AMSTERDAM
Off-Broadway, Play
Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters
1 hour, 30 minutes
Through September 4

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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