Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Brits Off-Broadway continues at 59E59 Theaters with a pair of solo shows: Emily Woof in BLIZZARD and Tim Marriott in WATSON

• By drediman
• June 20, 2024
• No Comments

The past few weeks have seen the Brits Off Broadway festival in full swing at 59E59 Theaters. Here are my thoughts on two recent solo shows to grace the stages of the prolific East Side venue.

WATSON: THE FINAL PROBLEM
Brits Off Broadway at 59E59 Theaters
Closed

First up was Watson: The Final Problem (RECOMMENDED) starring Tim Marriott as Sherlock Holmes’s trusted sidekick Watson. Presented by Twilight Theatre Company and Smokescreen Productions, the piece chronicles Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic Sherlock Holmes stories solely through the eyes of Watson (the lovingly written and configured text is credited to Marriott and Bert Coules, who also serves as director). Tim Marriott easily channels the dense world created by Doyle and makes for an immediately likable Watson. Although the work doesn’t deviate far from the author’s established footprint — these are still very much the Sherlock Holmes tales you know and love — it does delve more thoroughly into the sidekick’s background, making for a lived-in character study and offering audiences a unique perch from which to observe the “action” (largely culled from The Final Problem, the novel in which Doyle infamously kills off Holmes, but not for long). Unsurprisingly, those nostalgic for these stories will likely get more out of Watson: The Final Problem, which fondly builds upon Holmes’ mystique. But as directed by Coules, the hourlong affair offers theatergoers the opportunity to curl up by the proverbial fireplace to take in a satisfying yarn, regardless of their predisposed exposure to the elusive legendary detective.

BLIZZARD
Brits Off Broadway at 59E59 Theaters
Through June 30

More adventurous theatergoers, however, will find more to appreciate in Emily Woof’s Blizzard (RECOMMENDED), another hourlong solo offering from 59E59’s Brits Off Broadway festival. Unlike Watson: The Final Problem, Woof’s freewheeling play (originally presented by London’s Soho Theatre in association with Shared Experience) completely disregards preconceived social decorum in favor of an anything goes sensibility. Indeed, the show’s heroine surrenders herself completely to the sensations of life — she’s unafraid of puncturing the perceived fabric of reality itself and makes it a point to investigate various lines of extreme philosophical questioning (e.g., what is the body?). Suffice to say, some may find the dreamlike play’s aimlessness frustrating as it takes one absurdist turn after another, unspooling in increasingly surreal scenes — taking our protagonist from London to a conference in Pontresina, Switzerland (once the residence of Nietzsche, which triggers her obsession with the German philosopher) — that are segregated by movement-driven interludes that physically express the anarchy within. Throughout, Woof’s performance is as brazenly untethered as Marriott’s is grounded in propriety, making Blizzard a fascinating companion piece to the aforementioned solo show. The production has been directed by Hamish McColl, whose resourcefully inventive staging fits hand-in-glove with Woof’s vision.