Theater in my Basement's Manifesto is a testament to the rebellion of theatre artists against the Establishment. While modern Experimental Theatre has been around the Americas and Europe in various forms for at least a century, new recruits are always arriving from the legions of actors, directors and designers who have grown weary of working with endless cycles of glib comedies, domestic dramas and holiday pageants. However, experimental theatre has always had a bad rap because of some of the excesses of the genre. Many audiences view experimental theatre as pretentious, exclusive and self-congratulatory, and not without some merit. There have been experimental companies and performers who have willingly created pieces that conspired against the audience gaining access to its intricacies. This is the exact opposite case for Director Ilana Lydia, who, along with "text re-conspirer" Emir Santiago, has come up with a primer for experimental theatre.

mutant: A BEARER OF SHADOWS/a tone/text poem to Novarina initially seems as dense as any performance piece intent on breaking down communication to its basic levels. Valère Novarina is an important voice in contemporary theater whose work is frequently performed in France, but is rarely presented in the United States. For Novarina, stock words and phrases, as well as other intellectual conventions, must be violently crushed, and the resulting powder must be remixed to allow for truly original creative thought and expression.

Inspired by Novarina's The Theater of the Ears, a radiophonic play in space performed by an electronic puppet, the TIMB ensemble have created a surprisingly structured and comprehensible 90 minute performance that progresses from order to madness. Utilizing a three-part frame that features a videotape of a writer (Franklin A. Cerne) who willingly descends into insanity to discover the basic truths of communication, the three live actresses (Becki Hansche, Miranda Zent, and Trish Coyle) and Mr. Cerne as the onstage sound designer shatter the chatter and demand the audience follow subtext and emotional reactions to gain meaning to their seemingly random text of phrases and thoughts. There is a recognizable forward movement, albeit a descent, as the performers draw from over 17 wildly differing texts and basic vocal and acting exercises. The three women have characters that follow basic arcs. However, if you concentrate on the accepted definitions of the words and phrases with which they play, you'll miss the deeper truths the company is trying to elicit.

It is this recognizable structure that makes this a strange experimental production. There's something oddly welcoming and didactic about the work of Ms. Lydia and Mr. Santiago. If you go with an open mind, you can find yourself plugging into the process and the forward movement toward truly original creative thought and expression. Ms. Lydia has deliberately paced the show in fits and starts, sometimes rushing through energetic passages of taunting or anger, and other times elongating sections of harsh reality and contemplation. She's always quick to create interesting and bizarre stage pictures.

The performers are not quite as cohesive as the project requires. As "Child," Ms. Hansche seems awkward, understandable as this is her first foray into experimental theatre. When playing with the text, she tends to move toward the obvious and hysteric, such as the "cliché" section that requires her and Ms. Zent to repeat and re-imagine advertising slogans. When she takes control of this exercise, she errs on the side of screaming. Her high energy, though, makes up for her lack of polish. Ms. Zent portrays "Morphine," a seductive siren who pitches fits or silkily sabotages. Her expressive eyes and commanding voice are the highlights of her stage presence, and when she begins to hurl brimstone, she transfixes the audience. Between these two is Ms. Coyle, whose role as "Narrator" makes her the most empathetic of the performers. She finds obvious relish presenting various lists that juxtapose such things as naughty anatomical references with text from medical journals.

An important part of the show rests in the hands of Mr. Cerne, who has chosen music that perfectly fits this journey. Craig Steenerson, Lisa Allen and Ms. Lydia's set is a study of wacky minimalism. Eric Reid's multimedia design aids in the accessibility of the production.

It's simple for those who don't want to understand to mock the proceedings. Echoes of Glass, Artaud and Beckett reverberate through the theatre; easy targets to those who don't want to think too hard. However, if you'd like to see an experimental piece that not only doesn't go out of its way to make you feel like an oaf, but actually instructs you on how to shed reality and holds your hand through the trip, then this "bearded critic" hopes you'll give mutant a chance.

Production Details:
mutant: A BEARER OF SHADOWS/a tone/text poem to Novarina Text Re-conspired by Emir Santiago
Theater In My Basement
The Arizona State University Nelson Fine Arts Center's Directing Studio (FA132), Tempe
(602) 278-9255
June 14th - 30th, 2002

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