Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association &
Cleveland Critics Circle)
Cleveland Public Theatre is sometimes referred to as an
off-Playhousequare theatre for its continued probing of non-traditional script
choices and presentation styles.
It’s the place that did an age-blind version of OUR TOWN, a play which
paralleled southern slavery with the Holocaust and added a gay twist, presented
a one-man diatribe about the Cleveland Browns, and was recognized by the
Cleveland Critics Circle in its 2012 awards for “Outstanding Commitment to
Multi-dimensional Theater Production and Education.”
CPT’s latest offering follows the trend of local theatre
organizations combining to produce productions. Playhouse Square has reached out to Baldwin Wallace’s Musical
Theatre Program, Cleveland Play House has coupled with Case Western Reserve’s
Master of Fine Arts program, PlayhouseSquare has reached out to the Great Lakes
Theatre, and now there is Oberlin College and Conservatory and CPT doing
collaborative works.
The first in a series of CPT/Oberlin experiences, which will
probe various physical and personal topics, centers on water.
WATER WAYS (Part One of the Elements Cycle) was developed
through use of the “devised theatre” technique. It does not follow the usual theatrical pattern of a
playwright penning a script, a director formatting an understanding of the
written piece, and then working with actors to bring the writer’s words and
ideas to life. Instead, devised
theatre, much like the “happenings” popular in the 1960s and 70s, creates a
staged piece based on a theme concept in a collaborative method which combines
input from the performers, the directors and whoever’s creativity is
needed. Often, and this is
paramount in the CPT/Oberlin production, the word is only one of many devices
used to create the whole.
In the case of WATER WAYS, live music, recorded music,
dance, vaudeville, projections, art, lighting, costumes, and museum
installations add to the spoken and chanted words.
The work was created by the cast (Oberlin College and
Conservatory students), the directors, and members of the Oberlin College and
Conservatory Oasis Faculty, during OASIS, a semester-long program of intensive
study. Students learned to create
work in a guided process calling upon their creativity, dance, music and
theatrical talents. In the process
they traveled to international and local performances to observe the creation
process.
Audience members experience the exposition section of the
work in the main CPT theatre, then physically move to four different parts of
the theatre’s complex, then back to the main theatre for the conclusion.
Those wanting a traditional story line of clear beginning,
middle, and end will be disappointed.
This is a much more abstract, creative process which not only lets the
performers devise, but allows the audience to wander through words, music and
electronic effects, to carve out each person’s own meanings, within the
boundaries of the subject matter.
Yes, this is the story of water. In this case, the resulting desert is created, for example,
when a body of water like Lake Eric dries up. Some remember the pleasure of swimming in the water. Others the glee of free water. Still others yearn for the digging of a
well to recreate the lake. Some
are doom-sayers, other yearn for the return of the water and are willing to
work toward that goal.
Superstitions, myths, legends, and reality all blend together in an
often mind-boggling way.
There are no actors or dancers or leads, per se. There are beings who perform varying
visual and vocal functions, interwoven with singers and dancers, musicians and visual elements that
create the whole.
Capsule judgement: WATER WAYS (PART ONE OF THE ELEMENTS
CYCLE is a unique theatrical experience which uses a devised theatre approach
to create a fascinating multi-leveled message centered on “water.”
WATER WAYS (PART ONE OF THE ELEMENTS CYCLE
