Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – In Martha Clarke’s GOD’S FOOL, St. Francis of Assisi comes to life in a surreal cauldron of song and dance

• By drediman
• July 1, 2022
• No Comments

Last night at La Mama’s Ellen Stewart Theatre, I attended a performance of God’s Fool by Martha Clarke. As one of the city’s indisputable hubs of avant-garde theater, La Mama seems the ideal venue to unveil the latest multidisciplinary creation of the maker of such seminal experimental dance theater works as The Garden of Earthly Delights and Vienna: Lusthaus. In essence, Gods Fool depicts the life and times of St. Francis of Assisi, one of the Catholic Church’s most recognizable saints, best known for his intense affinity towards animals and ascribing to an unadorned life.

However, those coming to the piece expecting to be hand-held through St. Francis’s life may leave the theater confounded. Instead, true to to form, Ms. Clarke gives us an impressionistic portrait of the 13th century saint. Indeed, God’s Fool is a fever dream that non-chronologically covers various points of St. Francis’s earthly existence in a surreal swirl. Comprised of an often opaque text by Fanny Howe, Ms. Clarke’s own organic, swooping choreography, and a stunning a cappella “jukebox” score (culled from a centuries-spanning music catalogue), the dreamlike cauldron of song and dance presents St. Francis as a forward thinking but often anguished, questioning, and contradictory man.

In sum, Ms. Clarke has created a meditative experience that ravishes the senses. Throughout the evening, she creates a parade of gorgeous tableaus against the backdrop of an expansive playing area, thanks in large part to Christopher Akerlind’s painterly lighting. Sonically, the production fills the soul with wonder and introspection (kudos to the superb music direction and sound design by Arthur Solari). Her company – who also contributed to the creation of the piece – acquit themselves completely as an ensemble, and they’re at home with both the rigorous vocal and physical demands of the piece. As St. Francis, Patrick Andrews gives a sensitive and acutely aware performance that seems the perfect conduit through which to manifest the iconic saint.

RECOMMENDED

GOD’S FOOL
Off-Broadway, Dance Theater
La Mama
1 hour, 10 minutes (without an intermission)
Through July 2