The Aliens
By
Annie Baker
Directed
By Mike Brooks
Reviewed
by Keith Waits
Entire
contents copyright 2012 Keith Waits. All rights reserved.
 |
| Zachary Burrell and Brandon Cox in The Aliens. Photo courtesy of Theatre[502]. |
The Aliens is a comedy constructed
with such delicacy that it may play poorly to audiences too accustomed to
material that bows to the lowest common denominator. It allows its characters
room to breathe and interact with each other in ways that will seem too much like
real life for comfort. It allows very little distance.
We
witness a series of scenes set in a fairly unimpressive open-air space behind a
coffee shop. Two highly intelligent eccentrics, KJ (Brandon Cox) and Jasper
(Scott Anthony), wile away the time talking about their history (they were once
in band together) and their shaggy future plans. Eventually, they are joined by
a new employee in the shop, an awkward teenager named Evan (Zachary Burrell)
who starts to become a part of this rarified club of oddballs who exist on the
fringes of society.
Perhaps
that overstates or misses the playwright’s intentions, but to me, KJ and Jasper
come off as refugees from the cuckoo’s nest – two characters whose speech is so
rife with inside jokes and internal references, whose existence is portrayed as
so isolated from the mainstream as to suggest that they are damaged in ways
that might not allow recovery. The fact that there is a good deal of profane
and ribald humor in their interactions only reinforces this idea. It allows the
audience to engage with the characters and feel comfortable enough to settle
into their world for a little while.
It
is a world that moves well away from the heightened reality of most plays,
instead crafted at a slow and deliberate pace that embraces long pauses and
near-silent passages that reveal much if we are paying attention. This is a
kind of theatre rarely seen in Louisville – one that asks forebearance but
yields rich rewards to a patient audience. You wouldn’t be far wrong to invoke Samuel
Beckett as most have when describing The
Aliens. Yet there is warmth here uncharacteristic of the famous Irish
playwright.
Scott
Anthony and Brandon Cox both bring a subtle balance of tensions to their
characters; and Zachary Burrell is equally good, pushing past superficial if
well-judged vocal and physical mannerisms to delve closer to the heart of the
play.
With
The Aliens, Theatre [502] continues
to push the boundaries and deliver American plays to Louisville audiences that
might otherwise pass us by.
The Aliens
October
5 - 13
Theatre
[502] in The Victor Jory Theater
Actors
Theatre of Louisville
Third
& Main Streets
Louisville,
KY 40202
502-509-1595
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