Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Liza Birkenmeier and Katie Brook stylishly dissect white masculinity in ISLANDER, which ushers back in-person performance at HERE

• By drediman
• August 23, 2021
• No Comments

HERE Arts Center is ushering back in-person performance at its Soho home with the Televiolet production of Islander, written by Liza Birkenmeier and directed by Katie Brook. For their latest creation (which was originally scheduled to premiere in March 2020 via SubletSeries@HERE, HERE’s highly curated rental program), the playwright/director duo – who had previously collaborated on Ars Nova’s production of Dr. Ride’s American Beach House to great acclaim – have concocted a show that aims to dissect the (American) white male psyche through at quilt work of verbatim NHL commentary regarding the New York Islanders’ embarrassing 2017-2018 season.

Although the play’s make-up may seem avant-garde, if comes on the heels of the similarly devised and well-received productions of Lucas Hnath’s Dana H. and Tina Satter’s Is This a Room (both ran Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre and are due to play in repertory on Broadway this fall). Where Islander differentiates itself is the fact that it’s less documentary theater and more a meditation on the theme of white masculinity. As such, it’s surprisingly insightful and occasionally very funny, thanks in large part to Ms. Birkenmeier’s skillful de-specification of the transcripts and Ms. Brook’s stylish, very theatrical direction (kudos to Josh Smith and Ben Williams for their sensational lighting and sound designs, respectively), which includes three generations of male performers to make its point. By juxtaposing these actors, Islander brings a striking universality to the proceedings and makes the case that the kind of behavior that’s crystallized by the play is persistent across the age spectrum.

In the central role of Man, David Gould is a marvel of control and physicality (he pulls off Katie Rose McLaughlin’s organically-placed choreography with rugged force). Indeed, he brilliantly captures the simultaneous confidence and cluelessness that often manifests itself in masculine behavior, especially in the world of professional hockey, that most unrelentingly macho of sports organizations. And by allowing us to get a harrowing glimpse of the fragile vulnerability that lurks behind the exterior, Mr. Gould manages to create a fully formed portrayal, despite the script’s intentional vagueness. Mr. Gould is joined onstage by distinctive supporting turns from Dick Toth as Other Man and young Aksel Latham-Mitchell as hockey player John Tavares, the play’s only specified character.

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ISLANDER
Off-Broadway, Play / In-person
HERE Arts Center / Televiolet (developed through a New Georges Audrey Residency)
1 hour, 10 minutes (without an intermission)
Through September 4