Duke City Rep's noble undertaking riddled with monotony

by Christie Chisholm, Weekly Alibi, February 16, 2012

More than a creepy story about a son murdering his father and marrying his mother, Oedipus is a tale about fate.

In the Greek tragedy, King Oedipus is lauded among his citizens for one specific great feat of wisdom: answering a question posed by the tormenting Sphinx, who in response throws herself off a cliff. Yet the man who solved a riddle that had plagued a thousand men is terribly unaware of his own circumstances.

Here’s the tricky background: King Laius and his wife, Jocasta, were told a prophecy that their son would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. The two decided the best course of action would be to bind the feet of their infant son together with pins (lovely) and send him off with one of their servants, who was to abandon the child in the woods. Of course, the servant had a heart and decided instead to give the baby to a servant from another kingdom, who in turn presented it as a gift to his barren king and queen. This baby, of course, was Oedipus.

ALT brandishes an Agatha Christie whodunit

by Christie Chisholm, Weekly Alibi, January 26, 2012

The setup for Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution could just as easily be the backstory for a rousing game of Clue. 

Emily French has been murdered. The rich but lonely 56-year-old was whacked in the back of the head with a blunt object in the living room of her English townhouse. Young, handsome and broke Leonard Vole is suspected, since he only recently befriended Miss French and yet is the sole beneficiary of her will. But then there’s French’s bitter housekeeper to consider and Vole’s calculating foreign wife, Romaine.

As one might suspect (pun totally intended), the object of the play is to figure out who really killed poor Miss French. Rather than take place in a velvet curtain-lined drawing room, Witness is staged as a courtroom drama. It’s up to Sir Wilfrid Robarts to prove to the jury that affable and agitated Mr. Vole is innocent, despite the growing mountain of damning evidence to the contrary. 

Christie originally wrote Witnessas a short story. In play form, the piece runs more than two hours—a heavily expositional two hours. The script could almost work just as well as a radio show, since characters seldom engage in any physical activity more strenuous than pacing. While a couple hours of debate and verbal one-upmanship probably suited mid-20th century audiences, Witness is likely to be taxing on the attention span of modern viewers. Christie had it right the first time: The story is much livelier in a shorter format. 

Adobe Theater's Irish-American drama is strong stuff

by Christie Chisholm, Weekly Alibi, January 19, 2012

A Moon for the Misbegotten might just make you rethink your unhealthy obsessions. If you lust after the tortured Heathcliffs of the world (don’t we all?), it may coax you to consider putting down that penchant. If your days are a haze of drinking alone in the dark, well, maybe it’ll be the moment of clarity that finally sends you to AA ... or at least motivates you to consult an electrician.

Moon’s author, Eugene O’Neill, was an American playwright, and this story is based in 1923 Connecticut. As the son of an Irish immigrant, O’Neill nodded to his ancestry through two of his main characters: father and daughter Phil and Josie Hogan. Like nearly any play written by or about the Irish, A Moon for the Misbegotten is very sad—for the most part.

Tricklock's three-week theater marathon gets physical and Herzogian

by Christie Chisholm, Weekly Alibi, January 5, 2012

Albuquerque’s theatrical community is growing, at least for the month of January. If you’ve lived here long, you know these temporary citizens come to you by way of Tricklock Theatre Company. For 12 years now, Tricklock has brought acclaimed theatrical acts from around the world to our little city for the Revolutions International Theatre Festival. This year, it’s flown in artists from Israel, Switzerland, France, Spain, Mexico, Italy, Kansas and Chicago, along with hosting a few locals.

Juli Hendren is a founding member of Tricklock, but this is her first year curating the festival as its co-artistic director. “It’s nice to be more a part of the creative process,” she says. The crafting of Revolutions began in March, and her year was spent hunting for new shows and sorting through piles of applications.

“I try to look for stuff that’s a little more on the physical side or is heavy in style.” Hendren also gravitates toward pieces that speak to current events. She says that while Tricklock has never aimed to search for shows that fit around any particular theme, themes naturally emerge in the festival’s lineups. “Artists tend to be reflecting what’s happening in the world or what’s needed.” This time, the common thread through some of the shows is about “love and the need for human connection,” she says. “It makes me optimistic for 2012. ... It seems like a lovely way to start the year.”

Our favorite arty endeavors of 2011

Part of a larger article. Read the whole thing here.

by Christie Chisholm, Weekly Alibi, December 29, 2011

Cloud Cover, Tricklock Theatre Company

This one-woman performance by Elsa Menéndez can be summed up in a word: joyful. Put on in a small, curtained space with AstroTurf laid on the floor and tacked to the ceiling, with funny hats bearing inspirational sayings, with a red umbrella ready to unfurl a mosaic of tiny gifts, with fresh coffee and peeled tangerines and a beautiful woman standing in the middle of it all and smiling at you, this show felt more like an intimate conversation than a play. As Menéndez told stories from her life, she offered audience members cookies and other confections. Somehow she conveyed her message—one of warmth, optimism and love—without becoming saccharine. It’s a show I hope we get to see again in the coming year.