Recent arts coverage
Austin’s alt-classical auteurs unleash their sixth symphonies | Austin Lyric Opera stages Chabrier’s ‘The Star’ | Q-and-A with Anne Akiko Meyers, violinistFollow @artsinaustin on Twitter
Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2009 > May > 26 > Entry
Review: ‘The Long Now’
The Long Now” combines the sweet, sentimental morality of fairy tales, the “Twilight Zone’s” twists and sense of the uncanny, and one frightening puppet. And it works.
As Tish explains from the start, she has a special friend. Her friend, though, appears at first to be of the imaginary sort—a grotesque personification of Time. But Time and Tish have a real arrangement. When she needs to, Tish can travel back to moments in her life, experiencing them like a fortunate addict, ad nauseum and without diminishing returns. And in Tish’s life, filled with the quiet horror of daily mundanities and well-meaning, nosy office mates, the past looks more and more appealing.
Soon it becomes clear that Tish is an addict, Time is a pusher, and the one-sided arrangement is based on the fear of revealing too much of the past rather than reveling in it. The metaphor’s moral — live in the now instead of hoarding it for the future — could be trite if it stopped there. Fortunately, director and writer Beth Burns doesn’t let it. Unfortunately, because it’s so rare that new theatre includes this much suspense and this many deft turns, I don’t want to say more and ruin the story.
Instead, I’d like to celebrate the execution of it. Time is embodied in a grandfather clock shadow puppet with a hobgoblin moon face to give Hieronymus Bosch nightmares. Designed by Jesse Kingsley, the paper puppets emit a sinister susurrus as Time moves and startling snaps when the character about-faces into the scrim.
The rest of the humans, though, are what gives the story its context: Tish is surrounded by people living normal lives. Her boss, played by Heath Thompson, and coworker, Anne Hulsman, offer subdued, natural performances. They initially feel underwhelming on stage. In reality they’re about pitch perfect, grounding the story in reality. Likewise, boyfriend Larry, played by Mason Stewart, is often enjoyably eager, almost going too far, until you realize his place in the larger fantasy.
Tish, played with success across a spectrum of ages, senses, and moods by Shannon Grounds, is the heart. Grounds ranges from the sinking addict, nodding off into a fantasy or scrabbling at her chest just to feel one new sensation, to a child with all her natural wonder to the wounded adult trying to move forward. Each adds a new layer to Tish, and all are affecting.
That’s the real success of “Long Now.” Burns has mixed fairy tale, relationship drama, and mystery into one constantly counter-balancing, turning story. She weaves together first dates with fantastical bargains and humanity with magic. It’s not perfect, but, as the story goes, life often isn’t. This moment, however, is well worth revisiting.
“The Long Now” continues Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m. at The Blue Theater, 926 Springdale Rd., $15-$25. 927-118, brownpapertickets.com
Joey Seiler is an American-Statesman freelance theater critic.
Comments
Click here to report comment abuse.