"Although the explosion of one-person shows on New York City stages seems to belie it, there was a good reason the ancient Greeks introduced a second actor into the drama. The essence of theater is human interaction, not introspection. No amount of skill can give a monologue as much insight and texture as the best dialogue. Even at their best, solo acts are a triumph of economics over aesthetics."
I say baloney to that, Mr. Henry III. I suppose no solo actor ever produced drama. Or when Bogosian presents several different characters all played by himself, there is no insight and texture. What about Jane Wagner's The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe? In that remarkably dramatic piece, the lead actress -- originally Lily Tomlin -- plays a multitude of personalities interacting with each other directly, even though there is only one performer on stage.
In fact, some of the best and most exciting theater I have recently seen are one-person shows. Neither Tru nor Papa is introspective, nor are the works of Bogosian or John ("Mambo Mouth") Leguizamo. Spalding Gray and Wallace Shawn may get a bit self-indulgent at times, but for the most part they tell stories far more absorbing and dramatic than, for instance, gaudy musicals and sitcom plays such as Cats or Breaking Legs.
Multi-character plays are often saddled with contrived dialogue and action, mainly to get actors on and off the stage and to reveal exposition. Only the most brilliant playwrights do not exhibit some degree of artifice when scripting dialogue. The monologue, on the other hand, can flow freely and honestly, and more easily break the rules of dramatic form.
There is one drawback to the one-person show, however. It must be brilliantly written and exquisitely acted to succeed.
Unfortunately, the newest local offering in this category, Saudia Young's Sneaker Revolution, starts off with a fine idea but quickly deteriorates owing to mediocre writing and merely adequate acting. Currently playing in a wonderful cabaret venue -- the Ruby's bar area in the new Nick's restaurant -- the play features Young portraying twelve characters, male and female, young and old, white and black. However, she renders almost all of them the same. She makes only minor adjustments when she needs to make major ones; one gets the feeling that Young is not yet experienced or brave enough to go out on a limb and truly become different people inhabiting the same body.
Still, the premise is a lot of fun, and the piece is short and moves quickly. It is set in the near future when a U.S. President, resembling Clinton (complete with Arkansas drawl and jogging towel around his neck), announces that because of a labor crisis, no one under 21 will be eligible for work. At first riots ensue, especially in the ghetto areas, but gradually spiritual leaders come to the forefront and organize the mainly black youth into a peaceful march, which begins in New York and ends up at the "Homey Dome" in South Central Los Angeles. Instead of harking back to the days of Woodstock or marches on Washington, Young has chosen to create a cross-sampling of today's youth taking that same path of collective action for different reasons.
Whether she realizes it or not (and after an interview with Young, I believe she doesn't), her Generation X hippies are for the most part morons, and if there is anything wonderful about the play, this inadvertent touch is just where it lies. Samo, the narrator, operates an underground radio station from his Cadillac and says "yo" every six seconds. Homegirl is more interested in sneakers and a black Adonis named Shareef than in protest marches. Sister Samahadi, the youths' leader, is a ridiculously passive type with granny glasses, and Young Blood, a former gang member, has become mellow simply by smoking too much good dope.
Whether intentional or not, Young's cast of characters on this meandering march through America are believable: They are shallow, vain, clothes-conscious, and politically correct without knowing why. Sort of the same crowd I expect at this summer's upcoming Woodstock revival. They'll go up to Bethel wearing their best Reeboks and pretorn jeans, spend one day outdoors, then book a room at a nearby hotel. Order room service in the morning. No mud baths and Port-o-sans for them. This group, though, does not necessarily offer fertile ground for brilliant dialogue.
Some of the writing in Sneaker Revolution is cute, if not exactly witty. Divergent groups emerge during the course of the march, such as FBMs, which stands for "Fundamentally Backward Men." I could live without the SWPs, "Scary White People," since I'm still naive enough to believe that racism is racism no matter who's spouting it. But since most of the black characters are scripted as one-dimensional illiterates, I suppose everyone gets the shaft from authors Young and Kate McCamy (who also directed the show).
I think if the piece went through several careful rewrites with an experienced dramaturg and was acted by someone other than Young, it could be quite good. As it is, you might want to see it for no other reason than to witness how cynical today's young writers have become. Even when they think they're describing love and peace, they are exposing themselves as self-absorbed and filled with ennui.
Despite all these flaws, the evening is better than Five Guys Named Moe or Sweet & Hot, recent big-budget productions containing numerous cast members jumping around, singing, but never interacting or doing a thing even remotely dramatic. Which goes to show, my dear Mr. Henry III, that the point concerning casts is not, to paraphrase an old R&B tune, the size but the motion.
Stage Notes
After all that planning, wishing, and hoping, the Miami Skyline Theatre will not be opening its season in February or March. According to Allan Zipper, one of the producers, "the funding and amount of sponsorship is way down, partly due to the past recession and the lingering demands of Hurricane Andrew." In other words, there just wasn't enough money to present a whole roster of plays. Zipper and partners decided against producing only one or two shows and then running out of dough. Instead they will "slow down and wait until next season." Meanwhile, they are staging a musical revue to exhibit the talents of their performing company for subscribers only, and are planning a fundraising evening open to the public in April, organized by Tracey Ullman.
The excellent but long-silent Lunatic Theatre is coming to the forefront again, with a production of Sam Shepard's Fool For Love, an explosive play to be presented at Tobacco Road beginning March 4 at 7:00 p.m. Since seating is limited, reservations might be a good idea. Call 738-6404. Lunatic's last production -- of John Patrick Shanley's Danny and the Deep Blue Sea -- was flawless, so this might be another bright spot in an otherwise gaunt theater season.
Speaking of Sam Shepard, what hope does Skyline have of securing enough funds for theater projects, when a genius of Shepard's dimensions cannot raise the cash to present his newest work on Broadway? Simpatico, his first full-length play since -- Lie of the Mind opened in 1985, even boasted a potential cast that included film stars/box-office draws Ed Harris, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Beverly D'Angelo. Still, Shepard couldn't gather the necessary funds of $800,000, which the playwright describes in the New York Times as "gas money on a movie." Horrifying, ain't it?
