Spring Break
1812 delivers cosmic production
Deborah Yarchun
Issue date: 10/12/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
- Page 1 of 2 next >
If you don't see Jane Wagner's "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe" produced often (or well), it's because planets practically have to align to make it work. With the role so firmly established by actress Lily Tomlin in the late 1980s, this one-woman, 19 character, comedic tour de force calls for an actress with the stamina and versatility to pull off all the roles convincingly. It requires the right pacing and direction to keep all 2.5 hours interesting. It's a play in which the meaning and effect cannot simply be scraped from words on a page. It requires a performer, preferably one as brilliant as Jennifer Childs, and an audience of people laughing at the same time. Fortunately 1812's production of "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe" has all these elements and has delivered a piece of theater so cosmic that you'd have to be from another universe to miss it.
At the heart of the play is Trudy, who "refuses to be intimidated by reality" and instead chooses to ignore it and live freely as a bag lady. After electric shock therapy, Trudy now receives signals and snippets of people's lives and serves as conduit for these stories to be viewed by the audience as well as space aliens studying human beings.
The human beings presented come from all walks of life and include a "semi-non orgasmic" housewife, a somewhat suicidal "classic false hope case" gym bunny, a coke-addicted bodybuilder and one time sperm donor who wonders about his potential progeny, prostitutes Brandy and Tina, a wealthy socialite experiencing "rich people burn out" and fifteen-year-old punk rock runaway Agnus Angst with a show-stopping performance art piece. The second act, in a change of rhythm, features most prominently a new age women's journey/evolution- from her sexual experimentation to her struggles with simultaneously being both a feminist and a housewife with twins.
Jennifer Childs not only portrays all these characters, she also makes us care about them. Demonstrating incredible physical control, Childs performs with seemingly inexhaustible energy, delivering a totally engaging performance all the way through.
At the heart of the play is Trudy, who "refuses to be intimidated by reality" and instead chooses to ignore it and live freely as a bag lady. After electric shock therapy, Trudy now receives signals and snippets of people's lives and serves as conduit for these stories to be viewed by the audience as well as space aliens studying human beings.
The human beings presented come from all walks of life and include a "semi-non orgasmic" housewife, a somewhat suicidal "classic false hope case" gym bunny, a coke-addicted bodybuilder and one time sperm donor who wonders about his potential progeny, prostitutes Brandy and Tina, a wealthy socialite experiencing "rich people burn out" and fifteen-year-old punk rock runaway Agnus Angst with a show-stopping performance art piece. The second act, in a change of rhythm, features most prominently a new age women's journey/evolution- from her sexual experimentation to her struggles with simultaneously being both a feminist and a housewife with twins.
Jennifer Childs not only portrays all these characters, she also makes us care about them. Demonstrating incredible physical control, Childs performs with seemingly inexhaustible energy, delivering a totally engaging performance all the way through.
Be the first to comment on this story