XL WEEKEND REVIEWS

Arthouse, 'Macbeth,' 'La Dispute,' Ballet Austin

Monday, February 19, 2007

Art

'THE SIRENS' SONG' RESONATES WITH ART HISTORY

Less adventurous than Arthouse's previous project, "E-Flux Video Rental," and less expected than its annual "New American Talent,""The Sirens' Song" is a well-curated exhibition of good to very good paintings that operate on many levels.

Ably curated by Blanton Museum of Art assistant curator Kelly Baum, the show is somewhat inspired by Maurice Blanchot's 1959 essay, "The Song of the Sirens," about Homer's "Odyssey." Narratives (or stories) are referred to in individual paintings with varying degrees of clarity.

In William Villalongo's "Earth Wind and Fire," cartoonish heads with mouths agape float amid yellow and orange flames, all painted on black velvet. The artist alludes to African American popular culture and revisits the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe.

Seth Alverson creates his own event in "Word Has It That Everything Has Been Permitted for Quite Some Time Now." Divided into two scenes, it is read as a before and after. On the left, two men sit on a sofa in a domestic setting, staring blankly. On the right one falls over, while the other's head blows off. The back wall and ceiling break away to show an ice-capped mountain and sky. The viewer is left to connect the dots of this violent tableau.

Whether German Expressionism, Romanticism, trompe l'oeil or ancient scrolls, nearly every painting makes unmistakable reference to art history's movements, media or techniques. This demonstrates that in addition to being able to understand these works via the discussion of narratives and meta-narratives, we can appreciate them through the history of art, and the combination of new and old, invention and tradition.

("The Sirens' Song " continues 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, (Thursdays until 9 p.m.), 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays, through March 4, Arthouse, 700 Congress Ave. Free. 453-5312. arthousetexas.org.)

—Erin Keever

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Theater

'MACBETH' LACKS FURY

The current "Macbeth," directed by David Long at St. Edward's University, is full of sound, but very little fury. In a story of ambition, murder, revenge and war, it's a sad sign when only two characters seem strong-willed enough to actually kill anyone.

Andrea Osborn's Lady Macbeth seems to run the entire castle. When she plans to welcome ill-fated Duncan to "my battlements," the "my" is well deserved. Her strength at the beginning makes her eventual breakdown that much more potent.

What's unclear is why she would marry this Macbeth. Greg Holt seems to have based his entire character around the "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" speech. Every line is filled with a wavering vibrato and self-doubt that would seem more at home in scholarly Hamlet than soldiering Macbeth. Holt is less the antique Scotsman than the Dane.

Nathan Osborn's Macduff, however, has almost enough passion to make up for it. Despite the rushed, offhand feeling of Lady Macduff's murder, Osborn's change from stoic militarism to emotional exhaustion does more to make the audience mourn his pretty ones than their actual deaths.

Set on a fantastic stage — complete with battle damage and falling bridges — designed by Chase Staggs, the final fight pales in comparison with its surroundings. But that's what happens when Macbeth is less a hellhound than a whelp.

("Macbeth" continues at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m., through Feb. 25 at the Mary Moody Northern Theatre, 3001 S. Congress Ave. $10-$15. 512-448-8484)

—Joey Seiler

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Theater

'LA DISPUTE' ULTIMATELY SWEET

In a new translation of Pierre Marivaux's "La Dispute," the qualities of basic human nature are explored with all the subtlety of "Laguna Beach."

A prince and lady dispute over which gender was the first to break lovers' vows and cheat. Fortunately, two boys and two girls have been raised as if each were the only child on the planet. Now that they've been introduced, the audience can watch the innocence of Eden fade away.

In Capital T Theatre's production, the framing device could easily be discarded. After a prolonged opening dance-cum-dumb show, Larry Hill and Annie Dragoo's stilted take on the royal couple's language made the short play drag on.

The antidote of speed and levity comes with the first couple, Églé and Azor, played by Laura Cheek and Chase Woolridge respectively. Cheek paints a portrait of woman in the state of nature that, while unflattering, is certainly funny. Both vain and endearing, Cheek's breakdown to "All By Myself" is almost worth the price of admission.

And Woolridge manically returns the affections. Although the character has room for eloquent gallantry, Woolridge's Azor is slack-jawed with love. The childish innocence works wonders when he meets Michael Fudge's Mesrin. Instead of squabbling over the women, it's joyous locker-room homoeroticism — at least at first.

Like young love, "La Dispute" is sometimes painfully childish, but ultimately sweet.

("La Dispute" continues at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturdays at Preas Theatre, Austin High School, 1715 W. Cesar Chavez St. $15-$25. capitalt.org.)

— Joey Seiler

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Ballet

BALLET AUSTIN'S 'GOLDEN' EXPLOSION

Jane Fonda has nothing on Twyla Tharp.

With a sense of early '80s aerobics energy, Ballet Austin's dancers exploded Thursday in Tharp's "Golden Section," part of the company's "Director's Choice" program at the Paramount. The cast of 12 found the fullest range of movement in the athletic ballet, a notable feat given that many also danced in the evening's previous works by artistic director Stephen Mills and company member Gina Patterson.

"Golden Section," formerly part of Tharp's full-length "The Catherine Wheel," suits Ballet Austin's contemporary flair. The dancers brought extreme liveliness to the electronic score by Talking Heads' David Byrne.

Though the performance hails a benchmark for the entire cast, dancers Michelle Thompson, Aara Krumpe and Christopher Swaim had particular breakthroughs. Thompson and Krumpe pushed with their entire bodies; Tharp seemed to sing from their fingertips. Swaim appeared newly mature, rousing laughter in a hip-wiggling solo. Paul Michael Bloodgood also looked at home in Tharp.

In "Red Line," Patterson deepens her choreographic craft. Dancers begin with high drama lunges and long faces — a bit over the top. Yet, as Michael Nyman's soundtrack from "The Piano" continues, the melodrama points to its opposite, moments of quiet intimacy. Most refreshing are the couplings of women: Two touch softly in a pas de deux and the final passage features another female couple.

Mills brings a lighter note. The bouncy "Five Flights Up" swings to music by Squirrel Nut Zippers. The piece sets up a vaudevillian flair; the dancers often slink in as though pulled by an unseen cane. But hesitation cedes to desire; this crew can't help but dance.

— Clare Croft