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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2011 > February > 16 > Entry
Review: ‘Heddatron’
Artists have been warning us for centuries about the dangers of technology. They’ve begged us to consider the consequences of innovation, to be careful what we wish for.
In recent decades, they’ve also begun to lament technology’s negative impact on theater. Most theaters can’t keep up with the kinds of special effects that society seems to crave.
In New York, Julie Taymor’s $65 million production of the Spider-Man musical doesn’t seem to be doing the trick. But Salvage Vanguard’s production of “Heddatron,” running now through March 5th, proves that you don’t need a Broadway budget to bring technology to the stage, and the play reminds us to be kind to our computers.
Elizabeth Meriwether’s play explores the consequences of feeling trapped in your own body — whether it’s made of flesh and bone or tin and flashing lights. It draws a comparison between toasters and housewives, presumably arguing for more humane treatment of both.
One of the central questions of “Heddatron” is whether or not a group of renegade robots really abducts a pregnant housewife, Jane (Amy Downing), and force her to perform Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” in a rainforest in Ecuador. Or, if this vision is all the invention of Jane’s 10-year old daughter, Nugget (Ava Johns), in an effort to explain her mother’s disappearance.
Director Dustin Wills answers that question for us. With exaggerated characters and idiosyncratic costumes, the world of this production reads clearly as the creation of a child’s imagination.
Now, the Nugget of Meriwether’s play is wise beyond her years, and her imagination vibrant. By turning the characters into projections of Nugget’s imagination, and in having a child actor perform the part, Wills dilutes much of the play’s emotional tension, turning it into a fun and funny romp with robots.
Jennymarie Jemison is utterly delightful as Else the “kitchen slut,” but the whimsical treatment overshadows the sadness of the maid’s real condition in Ibsen’s (Robert Pierson) time. There’s no weight to the characters’ interaction because they are never real for us, even if they are extremely amusing.
And yet, the talented design team creates a world in “Heddatron” that reminds us how magical theater can be. Buzz Moran’s sound design engulfs us in the music and mayhem, and Lee Webster’s projections create voluptuous textures on the floor and walls. Natalie George’s lights bring the robot forest to life, and Lisa Laretta’s set design is eclectic and fascinating as always.
‘Heddatron’ continues 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 6 p.m. Sundays through March 5 at Salvage Vanguard Theatre, 2803 Manor Road. $15 (Thursdays Pay-What-You-Can). www.salvagevanguardtheater.org
Cate Blouke is an American-Statesman freelance arts critic.
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