"A Dream Play" at Danny Peterson Theatre

If a glorious and foreign being were to plunge into a daily routine all too familiar from our human perspective, what would she see? Would she like our world? If she were an angel, just as pure and sweet as we humans can imagine, could she even survive?

August Strindberg’s bizarre dramatic tale, A Dream Play, investigates this query using surrealist language and absurdist characters so exquisite that Lewis Carroll would shudder. Caryl Churchill brings the 1902 play to a ripping speed in her captivating translation, a momentum that director Kyle Barrow jolts into a warped vaudevillian waltz for Boise State’s Theatre Arts production. This play is an elegant sideshow, a dazzling wreck just as brilliant as seeing a house on fire through a kaleidoscope.

In this Victorian dreamscape on earth, harsh disconnect is the absolute norm, especially between people. Thanks to a flurry of dynamic and stylized production choices, acting and design alike, these detached relationships are playfully fierce at the Danny Peterson Theatre.

This is the earth where the hopeful Agnes arrives--though truthfully, Strindberg’s world may only be “a bad copy” of what we see everyday—wanting to discover what it is like to be human. It is a makeshift world, where characters give their possessions and environments the meaning they choose. Found objects morph into prized treasures and the unknown destination beyond a locked fridge door is forbidden territory.

Barrow creates a tormented universe in a black box; even the passionate tango is jerky and painful, something to fight through. While Agnes, in an ideally bright-eyed performance by Jamie Nebeker, is only after a little joy and love, she is instead welcomed by complaint after pitiful complaint that add up at an alarming rate. Agnes herself notes, “Everyone’s complaining. If it’s not what they say it’s how they look”.

Shadow dancing, video projections, line-dancing to Gogol Bordello, live saxophone performance, puppets, stilts and automated lighting are only some of the enormous theatrical elements orchestrated throughout the production. Barrow’s lovely and demented circus act Dream Play invests in a severely fractured climate. Any simple truths--like Agnes’ joy and love--are the only things worth the yearning.

But since little things do add up and make a difference, for better or worse, even Agnes’ hope gets trampled. It is not a wonder with the rough, otherworldly parades she finds here, there and everywhere. Though even the angel despairs, “It’s worse than the worst I’ve imagine”; we the audience might be able to shift our predictably destructive melancholy into an encouraging and childlike attitude. For now, still, if an angel were to plunge into our hateful and brutish earthly routine, she would be “sorry for them” as Agnes is.

Don’t miss the spectacular production, A Dream Play, at The Danny Peterson Theatre in the Morrison Center.

November 13th thru the 15th, and the 19th thru the 22nd at 7:30 pm.

And November 16th and the 23rd at 2:00 pm.

Tickets are free for BSU students with ID, $15 General Admission and $12 for non-BSU students, Boise State Alumni and Seniors. $9 each for groups of 10+.

Burlesque in Boise, Part II: The Red Light Variety Show at Bouquet

9:00 PM As promised, on my way to the stunning and sensational Red Light Variety Show, I am greeted by the shuffle-bang-ding-bop sounds of Mr. Maid Rite and his washboard device. Classy, lanky stilt walkers also make their way up and down sidewalks; the striped big friendly giants are not to be missed. These unusual performance sights on Main Street usher an eager crowd to bask in Burlesque at the Bouquet.

9:05 Volunteers for A.L.P.H.A. (Allies Linked for the Prevention of HIV and AIDS) welcome the excited incomers, collecting donations and selling raffle tickets to benefit their worthwhile organization. On stage, Alejandro Anastasio readies the house, setting an appropriately oddball soundscape with his Theremin. A busy crowd gets in the mood for exhilarating dance, music and art with a drink or three from a hardworking bar staff. Yes, the Bouquet’s liquor license was renewed in time for the Variety Show.

9:20 And here come the Brass Knuckles Burlesque Troop, introduced by the beautiful M.C. Minerva Jayne. Brass Knuckles principle dancers, Erynn Leonardson and Anne McDonald, accompanied by a hearty swing number, use comic grace and posh to dress down from 30s housewife apparel to red and black panache in fishnets and heels. If the Fanny Brice wit still exists in gorgeous dance numbers, these two have certainly got it; Brass Knuckles owns as much fun-spirited theatrics as spicy charm, steamy elegance and silken threads.

9:30 Lynn Fischer as Hoopla manipulates her L.E.D. lit Hula Hoop remarkably, with a particular few moves that transcend my understanding of physics and anatomic possibilities. It is a belly dance for the circus; Hoopla’s hoop is a tamed python friend that brought life to perform in the ring.

9:40 Speaking of belly dancers, Kristin Hill skillfully shakes her hips, rolls her stomach and ripples her shoulder blades with the natural, lovely power of a river’s undercurrent nearing a waterfall. Her “exotic undulations,” as Minerva Jayne describes Kristin’s routine, are pure finesse displayed alluringly in her tangerine lace and jewels.

9:45 In her pole dancing routine, Allison Holley has the extraordinary acrobatics of a lemur. Holding herself steadily upside down or perpendicular to the pole and making elaborate flips and turns as if it is the easiest thing in the world, Allison appears more comfortable on the vertical axis than on the ground. Her strength and agility seems beyond human.

9:50 The astounding Alejandro Anastasio now offers us comedy in a monologue, “The Pros and Cons of Having Only One Hand,” before playing the accordion. Two of Alejandro’s pros give the Bouquet particularly riotous hysterics: “I get 50% off all manicures” and “When I’m cuddling, I never have that pesky arm that falls asleep or gets in the way.”

10:00 And now to delight in the magnificent Brass Knuckles again, dancing to hard and pulsing beats, sleek their in black silks, masks, sparkles and show tune canes. How feisty they are.

10:10 The two dancers in Eclectica create an authoritative and animalistic act. Dressed in emerald green, they spin their shoulders and slide their feet, jerk their ribcages and wave their hips. So sharp and strong, they have a primal force greater than human.

10:15 Twenty minute intermission. The house and performers all take a break, sip on a beverage and buy a few more raffle tickets. The raffle is next, resulting in happy patrons and prizes.

10:45 Now here we go again with Alejandro Anastasio, joined by Cynthia Barrett to create a circus ballet. A purple tutu, stripes and suit tails make robotic repetition in stylized movement even more compelling, as does their enticing use of an umbrella and a golden key the size of an Australian shepherd.

10:50 Kristin Hill’s second act is well loved, as it should be: her belly dance as commanding as an electric storm, just as enchanting as lightning and ferocious as thunder.

11:00 Minerva Jayne’s fun and fiery drag routine features Ruth Wallis’ stirring and classy jazz number “You Gotta Have Boobs.” The Bouquet crowd, high on energized satisfaction, goes nuts for this one, and understandingly so.

11:10 Eclectica also continues with a second act—oh-so elegant and iridescent. When the audience roars in applause, Minerva Jayne remarks, “My goodness, I didn’t have to ask you to give them a hand. You already did!”

11:20 Alejandro returns to the stage once again on Theremin, an instrument that produces high tones and pitches that it senses from vibrations. It is definitively eerie and haunting.

11:35 With her “two biggest fans,” Cynthia Barrett, who has apparently been featured on Ace Magazine and Bad Cat Magazine, returns to the stage. Sweet and saucy, she turns the enormous white feathery fans into wings, tail feathers, clam shells—the props themselves are dazzling dance partners.

11:50 For the third time, the Brass Knuckles Burlesque make the crowd melt, this time to an electrifying rendition of “Putting on the Ritz,” complete with canes, top hats and—as a final smash hit—pasties. Brass Knuckles is theatre with sexy style.

Midnight Applause, bows and celebration. If you were not fortunate enough to see the exhilarating Red Light Variety Show, don’t weep too long. There is serious talk of a New Year’s Eve performance, location TBA. Don’t you dare miss out.