VIEWPOINTS – Women en route to the unknown, literally and figuratively: SPACEMAN & BONNIE’S LAST FLIGHT

This past weekend in the East Village, I caught two new immersive Off-Broadway plays that coincidentally depict women on their respective journeys into the unknown, both literally and figuratively.

Actor Erin Treadway in Loading Dock Theatre's production of "Spaceman" by Leegrid Stevens at the Wild Project. Photo by Russ Rowland.

Erin Treadway in Loading Dock Theatre’s production of “Spaceman” by Leegrid Stevens at the Wild Project. Photo by Russ Rowland.

First up was Loading Dock Theatre’s production of Spaceman (RECOMMENDED) by Leegrid Stevens at the Wild Project. The mostly one-woman show begins seven months into astronaut Molly Jennis’s solo mission to start the process of human colonization on Mars. As our brazen heroine approaches her destination, her anxiety level escalates for a number of reasons – life-threatening obstacles, intense pangs of loneliness – to the point of endangering the fate of the mission. Although the script veers towards heavy handedness at some points (e.g., there’s a romantic slant to the story that I felt was handled a tad too melodramatically), I found the play’s increasingly hallucinatory psychological and emotional landscape to be dramatically gripping stuff. And even if her blunt, muscular performance isn’t to everyone’s taste, I applaud actress Erin Treadway for skillfully navigating the play’s episodic structure and fearlessly tackling the not insignificant physical requirements of the demanding role. For a show with limited resources, Spaceman, as staged by director Jacob Titus, is uncommonly spectacular. I particularly found the the immersive design elements to be outstanding, especially the dazzling lighting design by Simon Cleveland and the encompassing, subtly menacing sound design by the playwright himself.

The company of Eliza Bent's "Bonnie's Last Flight" at the Fourth Street Theatre, courtesy of New York Theatre Workshop's Next Door series. Photo by Shun Takino.

The company of Eliza Bent’s “Bonnie’s Last Flight” at the Fourth Street Theatre, courtesy of New York Theatre Workshop’s Next Door series. Photo by Shun Takino.

Just a few blocks away at the Fourth Street Theatre, another woman is undergoing a memorable “trip” of her own in Eliza Bent’s play Bonnie’s Last Flight (RECOMMENDED), which is being presented by New York Theatre Workshop’s relatively new and active Next Door series. The woman in question is Jan, who, we come to discover, is retiring from her career as a flight attendant. For her last flight (from New York to Chicago), the Fourth Street Theatre has been ingeniously transformed into the interior of a “Smelta” aircraft. Ms. Bent’s play whimsically and fantastically depicts Jan’s final flight in a stream-of-conscience style that calls to mind the surreal narratives of novelist Haruki Murakami. Although it can be argued that the play’s agenda is scattered and slightly unfocused, it can also be said that it’s this seemingly random, dreamlike quality that gives the piece its unique charm and vivacity (indeed, one of the play’s takeaway lessons is that life plays random tricks on us). Bonnie’s Last Flight has been staged with wit and a keen sense of parody by up-and-coming director Annie Tippe. It’s also acted with giddy panache by its cast of six, which includes the usually sardonic Broadway veteran Barbara Walsh as Jan and the playwright herself as Mark Twain (!), among other characters.

 

SPACEMAN
Off-Broadway, Play
Loading Dock Theatre at the Wild Project
1 hour, 40 minutes (without an intermission)
Through March 9

BONNIE’S LAST FLIGHT
Off-Broadway, Play
NYTW Next Door Series at the Fourth Street Theatre
1 hour, 25 minutes (without an intermission)
Through March 2

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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