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| Primy Rivera as the
Soldier, Mino Lora as the Iraqi woman |
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Photo Credit:Jonathan Slaff |
| As the week of the Republican
National Convention approaches, questions about protest
permits and metal-enclosed demonstration zones clog
left-leaning web sites and local New York papers, a new
trend is grabbing headlines. Activists frustrated with
what some see as the failure of conventional protests
are looking for new ways to get their message out, while
local artists fed up with the Bush administration are
trying to get into the act.
Hence, Code
Orange: On the M15, a free show sponsored by Theater
for the New City, written and directed by its executive
director, Crystal Field. The show will be touring the
city’s parks, boardwalks and bandshells for the next
five weekends.
It is beyond the purview of this
review to judge whether Code Orange is effective
activism. A critic cannot tell if show is reaching its
intended audience, if it is spurring them to action, if
it is winning hearts and minds or preaching to the
choir.
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| Mark Marcante, the Genie,
Michael-David Gordon, bus driver |
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Photo Credit:Jonathan Slaff |
| Code
Orange does not give a critic much else to go on: it
does not walk the line between art and activism, it is
activism, plain and simple. It might well be fantastic
activism. A huge effort has gone into getting it out
there – especially from the producers, who have found a
dozen spaces, around the city, over the next five
weekends, ensuring that people who are not fixtures of
the downtown theater scene can hear the message.
But all that work, and all the best intentions
in the world can not make this show art. The plot, if
there is one, is incomprehensible. The characters are
paper-thin mouthpieces for the show’s politics. The
staging is rushed and unpolished. The actors often
cannot be heard (despite being heavily miked) and the
acting is pretty much shouting.
It takes 45
minutes for the show to get to its first point. When it
does, it rails against war in the most simplified and
juvenile terms possible, attacking the Bush
administration with vague lampooning rather than solid
facts. The one moment that raises a flicker of passion
is a creepy number called “We’ve Struck Oil,” in which
monsters with evil claws and the faces of the president
and his cabinet sing, a song that blends high life and
thug life into an ominous paean to absolute power.
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| Mark Marcante,
Michael-David Gordon, Grace Edwards getting on
Bus |
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Photo Credit:Jonathan Slaff |
| Telling a story
that rouses the passions is not the point of Code
Orange. The only reason for its existence is to
persuade its audience to participate in their local
political process. It is reminiscent of the skits that
tour high school pep rallies, which advised students to
keep off drugs and eat their veggies. This one is, "If
you become an activist, you can stop the war."
Persuade, it may. I have my doubts. While the
show's unsophisticated political message seems aimed at
juveniles (or adults so out of touch they have not
already formed an opinion about the Bush administration)
there is not enough narrative for a viewer to make sense
of the things going on on stage without a prior
familiarity with the excesses of Halliburton, the
debacle of January’s global antiwar protests, the
interagency communications errors of 9-11, the market
position of Clear Channel Communications, and a dozen
other important factoids. If you do not dislike the
current government, this show offers no compelling
reason to start.
Finally, at the risk of delving
into politics, the play's message is suspect. Local
political participation is a good thing, I am sure. But,
building community gardens on the lower east side will
not stop the war in Iraq. Voting against Bush might do
it, or volunteering time for his opponents. They also
might not stop the war. There are other kinds of
volunteerism that have benefits to the community on a
local level, from working in a soup kitchen, reading to
children at a library or to blind people in a nursing
home. If the makers of this show truly believe George W.
Bush is the blood-drinking monster they portray him as,
they should realize it will take a lot more than flowers
and wishes to unseat him.
If you want to be
entertained, go see a play. If you want to teach your
kids to hate and fear George W. Bush, take them to see
Code Orange.
Be prepared: the invasion of
the theaters by the propagandists has just begun.
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Category:
Musical
Written by: Crystal
Field
Directed by: Crystal
Field
Produced by: Presented by Theater
for the New City
Opens: August
7
Closes: September 12
Running
Time: 2 hours
Theater:
Address:
,
Mapquest Directions
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Tickets: $0.00
n/a
No
Box Office NumberOnline Ticketing: Show's
Website
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Creative TeamWritten
by: Crystal Field
Directed by:
Crystal Field
Produced by: Theater for
the New City
Music Composed by: Joseph
Vernon Banks
Mask Designer: Haideen
Anderson
Sound Designer: Joy Linscheid
and David Nolan
Set Designer: Walter
Gurbo
Costume Designer: Myrna
Duarte
Prop Designer: Vivien
LaCorte
Cranky Designer: Mary
Blanchard
CastJonathan
Avildsen
Alexander Bartenieff*
Lily Burd
Mary
Cunningham
Grace Edwards
Crystal Field*
Robert
Fitzsimmons
Landrew Frazier
Susan
Gittens
Giorgio Handman
Ashley
Holmes
Michael-David Gordon*
Steve
Greenstein*
Joyce Lee
Mino Laura
Mark
Marcante*
Jonathan McDowell
Kate McGrew
Craig
Meade*
Stephanie O\'Neill
Primy Rivera
Kelsey
Robinson
Justin Rodriguez
Vaughn Rush
Kojiro
Shinohara
Michael Vazquez*
Elektra Yao
Lei
Zhou
* - Appears Courtesy Actors Equity
Association
Musicians:
Joseph
Vernon Banks, Piano
Phil Smith, Bass
Chuck Batton,
Drums
Kareem A. Walkes, Saxophone
CrewProduction
Manager: Mark Marcante
Stage
Manager: Stefanie Petersen and Johanna
Resto
(other crew) | |
