4 Cents Review – When 2 reviewers each give their 2 cents.

Today it takes both Tortora-Lees (Karen and Stephen) to give The Land Whale Murders the consideration it deserves.

For those of you who have already had the opportunity to experience a play by writer Jonathan A. Goldberg (such as The Luck of the Ibis) you’ll no doubt know what I mean when I say that it’s as if Goldberg lets both hands write two plays independently of each other simultaneously – one fully right brain, the other fully left – and then allows his subconscious to stitch  them together till it all makes sense.  This is his gift – this is where he succeeds when others fail.  And this is why The Land Whale Murders is both difficult to describe, yet impossible to forget.

Richard Hollman, Nathaniel Kent, Jennifer Joan Thompson, Carl Howell, Amy Landon, Robert Michael McClure (Photo by Eric Michael Pearson)

Boiled down to its essence The Land Whale Murders is a murder mystery set in the late 1890s in New York’s gritty underbelly.  It is a unique time – where we can almost see the modern world – yet still can feel the odd quirks of  the old fashioned time preceding it.  So, while this is a coming of age story for the characters, it is also one for the country, as the United States moves from its adolescence into the beginning of the modern age.

But even more importantly The Land Whale Murders is a grand  majestic romp full of comedic bits that take those odd facets of the Gilded Age and serve them up in a wacky steam punk adventure that turns out to be quite historically accurate.  So, as comical as it may sound as a plot line – strap in, New Yorkers, for this is your city in its youth: whale oil was having its last gasps as a precious commodity while crude oil was becoming the new industrial force in the world, and Theodore Roosevelt was New York’s police commissioner. An odd group of concerned citizens (the Amercian Acclimatization Society) really did release All the Birds of Shakespeare’s Plays into Central Park.  Naturalists, thrilling for adventure  and calling for change, abounded throughout the period.  So, nutty as it seems, the old adage rings true – you can’t make this stuff up.

Carl Howell and Robert Michael McClure (Photo by Eric Michael Pearson)

What you can do, however, if you’re a playwright in search of a whale of a tale, is mix in some Victorian naturalists who like to be known as the Four Elementals  – murder one of them in the Prologue – and set the remaining 3 off and running in this crazy quilt of a city.  The audience is then left to watch what happens as an adventuring botanist (Angus Troup played by Amy Landon), a clumsy but well-meaning ornithologist (Eugene Neddly played by Carl Howell), and a fiery poetess (Maryanne Blud, played by Jennifer Joan Thompson) , try to solve the murder of a passionate oceanographer (Hiram Blud, played by Robert Michael McClure) while simultaneously trying to save the citizens of New York from the threat of a land whale.  They’re in a dead heat with a cold hearted female pirate – Pirate Penny – who is supported by a roving gang of eye-patch wearing goons (A bunch of former whalers and fishermen who now practice land piracy. You recognize them because they all wear eye patches . . . whether they need them or not!) who “reckon good and evil is more a social construct”.   On top of all this, the Remaining Elementals must deal with the daily ins and outs of navigating their relationships with each other.

These Three Elementals hide their eyebrow-raising predilections (oh, hell no – tell me she’s not kissing a . . . ), crack their one liners, and try not to get clobbered by The Big Stick (aka Teddy Roosevelt, played by Richard Hollman).   But come on, this group once banded together and fought a mummy (a mummy!) – do you think a whale oil tycoon like Henry B. Lubbins III (played by Nathaniel Kent) poses such a problem?  Even when he says – about America adopting petroleum as an energy source  – “You sound like that fool Rockefeller.  America runs on whale juice.  Now and forever.” No.  No, he does not.  In fact, Henry B. Lubbins turns out to be  . . . well . . . otherwise octopied.  (You read that right.  Octopus – Octopied).

Director Tom Ridgely clearly understands Goldberg’s madcap vision and brings it to life stunningly.  He uses fight choreographer Rod Kinter to full advantage throughout; if you’re a fan of Kinter’s brilliantly inventive fights (and I am) you’ll thrill each time the music swells around another great fracas of stage combat.

While I’m not a fan of comparing one medium to another in order to give certain aspects a deeper sense of validity I still must say that there is something very cinematic about The Land Whale Murders – specifically when it comes to the original music (by John Balicanta) and overall sound design (by M. L. Dogg) which works hand in hand with Greg Goff’s dramatic lighting design. Underscoring scenes and transitions, these elements often adds a note of subtle humor, allowing a broadly acted scene to come off stronger and more complete.  Similarly, set design  Jason Simms keeps the scenery to a minimum but pulls out the best tricks for the times they’ll pack the biggest punch. And, if you’re a fan of steam punk you’ll adore the costumes Deanna Frieman created.

Perfectly paced, beautifully staged, brilliantly acted – The Land Whale Murders will surprise you, delight you, and leave you fully entertained.   You’ll also never look at a ficus, an octopus or a big stick in quite the same way again.

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• 4 Cents Review: Almost Exactly Like Us
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Last Life is the fightsical from Timothy Haskell (creator of Road House: The Stage Play) and Eric Sanders (The Wendigo), and stars Taimak (of the legendary fight film The Last Dragon).  The title is proving to be about as accurate a title as “Cher’s Final Farewell Tour” because this show has been revived more times than Britany Spear’s reputation  – and I couldn’t be happier for the whole creative team.

I was able to catch this show back in December when it played its completely sold-out run at the Brick Theatre’s Fight Fest (it went on to be one of the show that was extended) and it now returns for two weeks only at the Ohio Theatre  beginning March 4th.   Once again, I just have to mention how I was truly blown away by every aspect of this show … not only the flawless execution of the fight combat but just the remarkably unique development of every element.

Maggie McDonald and Jo-Anne Lee (photo by Ariella Goldstein)

See what other critics are saying: “If only theater producers intent on turning Broadway into a showcase for recycled movie ideas would have the nerve to hire director Timothy Haskell” –Village Voice “A deconstructed theatrical imagining of the action thriller in its purest form.  The glorious fighting and violence packs this fierce and beautiful production.” – InDigestmag.com “An R-Rated thrill.  Like watching ‘Kill Bill’ only live!” – iDanz Critix Corner On a side note, as Antonio reported recently, the Ohio Theatre will sadly be closing soon and New York City  will be losing one of its beloved theatre spaces.  But before it closes its doors the Ohio will ring with the smacks, punches and thwacks of Last Life, and I can’t imagine a finer salute.  So please, do yourself a favor and go see a terrfic show and pay tribute to this fine old landmark.  Doing so gives  the phrase “Last Life” a whole meta meaning … which I think is something that makes Timothy Haskell and Eric Sanders smile.  Or, knowing them … makes them roundhouse kick someone.  (Duck!)

Ohio Theatre (66 Wooster Street located between Spring and Broome) beginning March 4th and ending the 14th running Thursdays – Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 7 pm. Tickets ($18) may be purchased online at www.smarttix.com or by calling 212.868.4444.  For more information please go to www.lastlifetheplay.com

Related Posts:

• Fight Fest: Wham, Bam, Thank You “Last Life”
• “Last Life” Gets In Two More Shots
• An Interview With Fight Fest Curator Timothy Haskell
• A Creation Story: An Interview With Eric Sanders And Dave Nuss – The Team Behind “Original Innocence”
• Creation Mythology, Rock Opera, BYOB – Just Another Night For Eric Sanders

I’ve been a fan of Eric Sanders’ ever since I interviewed him last year and then reviewed his staging of the classic horror story The Wendigo.  And while that first show certainly gave me a taste for how great his talents are, I was very excited about getting the chance to see Last Life - one of his original works.  Chatting with Timothy Haskell recently about Fight Fest only made me more eager to see not just a play, but an amalgam of story and combat, something they christened “the fightsical”.

Everything leading up to Last Life did not prepare me for what I actually experienced that night in the theatre; and while there are a lot of things one could say about the show, very little would do it justice.

Last Life is unlike any show I’ve ever seen. The concept itself is rather straightforward and, in fact, not completely unique.  The storyline is vague but clearly post-apocalyptic, and while the plot eventually emerges, it does so slowly, and not without a great deal of speculation between scenes (Who is that?  What exactly did that mean?  How are all these people connected?).  Watching Last Life is like being presented with one of those dot-to-dot coloring books you had as a kid, the one with about 100 dots so you can’t define the image at all as you look at the page.  And even the first few pencil strokes don’t make much sense.  But slowly, as you make those connections and those dots merge into something solid, the story of the picture comes forward and the image lets you know what it is.  At that moment you can’t wait to keep scanning the page for dot 101, 102, 103, because you know that soon you’ll know EVERYTHING.  And that’s how I felt at about scene 5 of Last Life. The lone threads begin to weave a story and I was slowly reeled in until it all makes a crazy kind of sense.

Last Life begins with a litany of verbal violence as Taimak Guarriello pounds through a gruesome list of torture … brutal without brutality, setting the scene for us.  Wherever this place is, it’s remote.  And it’s different.  And something’s turned people into violent kill-or-be-killed fighting machines.  Even among sisters (as we see later) there is little room for love but a lot of room for fighting.

Each fight in Last Life is approached … meaning it does not happen organically in the middle of a sentence, but rather it is stepped into by the characters who stand facing each other in grim determination before leaping into exciting, balletic and heart-stoppingly choreographed fights.  They slap, tug, pull, drag, trip each other, spin, lunge forward, swing wide, grunt and sweat.  They use fists, legs, ropes and – in one fearsome scene – knives.  From where I was sitting, these were REAL KNIVES.  Wieled by women.  I was never so proud of my gender, and so pleased with a playwright and a director.  Thanks Eric and Timothy … and thanks fight director Rod Kinter – for putting the shiny sharp objects into the hands of women.  And the rope too, for that matter.

Beyond the obvious staging it takes to get 2 people locked in mortal combat, there is another hint of something unnameable here.  While each Kinter-directed fight is happening the real is obviously real … but the fake is intentionally fake, and therefore more truthful.  For instance, while some punches obviously connect, when they do not the “thump” of supposed flesh on flesh is handled by Tim Haskell who stand to the right and strikes a melon with a satisfying whack.  Instead of blood pellets being hidden among clothing and popped at the right moments blood is exaggeratedly painted on, and the dyed liquid is left to fall and splatter at will.   When the characters cease their battle, the mess is then mopped away but the stained clothes remain.  As the show progresses the simple pants and shirts become human spin art.  It’s not so much comical as it is funny.  And I think the audience laughs in appreciation of the fact that no one involved with Last Life is trying to make you think something occurred when it actually didn’t.  It’s a sly wink to all that’s come before it, and we’re in on the joke.

To explain too much of the plot would be to give too much away, so I will only say that the ensemble does an amazing job, not just with the fight routines, but with truly pulling you into this world co-conceived by Eric Sanders and Timothy Haskell and Rod Kinter.  Taimak Guarriello, Aaron Haskell, Soomi Kim, Jo-Anne Lee, Maggie MacDonald, and Alyxx Wilson all invite you into this unique existence, and in the end when the last man is left standing the ramifications of what’s been going on this whole time provides a satisfying conclusion.  One more show to go … see it while you still can.  You’ll never see theatre combat the same again.

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Related Posts:

• Last Life Just Won’t Die – And That’s A Good Thing
• “Last Life” Gets In Two More Shots
• An Interview With Fight Fest Curator Timothy Haskell
• A Creation Story: An Interview With Eric Sanders And Dave Nuss – The Team Behind “Original Innocence”
• Creation Mythology, Rock Opera, BYOB – Just Another Night For Eric Sanders