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Enjoy the Silence
by Michael Niederman
Bizarre Science Fantasy reviewed January 21, 2005
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I don't care how cold it is outside. You need to get onto a train and travel to Williamsburg, Brooklyn (otherwise known as the Fourth Dimension), and go see Bizarre Science Fantasy, which is playing at the Brick Theater until Feb. 5.
Yes, I know the city is covered in a blanket of unforgiving snow and you can see icicles forming in your breath with every exhale. Those excuses for not leaving the house and seeing this wonderful piece of theater are not good enough. Inside the cozy, brick-lined black-box walls you will be offered a bottle of beer or a glass of whiskey before being whisked away to a place where your darkest nightmares become real.
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| (l-r)Katie Brack and Hope Cartelli in Bizarre Science Fantasy |
| Under the direction (and über-spooky narration) of writer Jeffrey A. Lewonczyk, Bizarre Science Fantasy takes elements from the scariest and cheesiest of sci-fi and horror comic books and serials from the 1950's and turns it all into a wonderful evening of wordless theater. Every member of this cast employs note-perfect pantomime to portray a variety of horrific and frightful characters. Over the course of the evening, I had the bejesus scared out of me by barflies, streetwalkers, Southern Baptist preachers, homicidal frogs, playful Martians, and Space Vixens From Outer Space.
The Brick's bare stage was transformed into worlds never seen on this earth, utilizing only enough smoke to make all of the actors appear to be in a soft-focused 1930's film. Surrounded by this unworldly haze, the players danced and mimed a fearless performance to create a theatrical evening full of magic, wonder, and, yes, bone-chilling and blood-curdling horror.
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| (l-r)Hope Cartelli and Katie Brack in Bizarre Science Fantasy |
| In the first, wordless piece, The Amphibians, Jessi Gotta, Robin Reed, and Devon Hawkes Ludlow portray the kind of dive bar patrons that could exist in an obscure Charles Bukowski story or Eugene O'Neill play. They sipped whiskey, hit on one another, and whiled away the hours, deadening their souls with liquor and dreams of a better life. They did this until their lives were threatened by a horde of vicious, bloodthirsty, evil frogs. The performers' dead-on, subtle movements, accentuated by brilliant sound design by Matt Hall from a zoological score compiled by Charles M. Bogert, created an entertaining, playful, and spine-chilling playlet.
The second piece—and my favorite—–was North of Polaris. A pair of buxom Space Vixens From Outer Space travel to a planet deep in space to investigate the aliens who live there. Dressed in hipster space outfits—apparently they still wear zippered track suits in the future—performers Katie Brack and Hope Cartelli explore strange and new worlds, and their possible bisexuality, until they come across the cutest, and scariest, tutu-wearing Martians ever. The Space Vixens From Outer Space and the Martians dance the starry, starry night away, ending the piece on an emotional note that is both whimsical and melancholic. Oh, and absolutely terrifying as well.
The third piece, Hell's Belles, combined elements of J.D. Salinger, Damon Runyon, and Flannery O'Connor to tell a morality tale about sex, liquor, loose women, and the Lord. All of the evening's players came together to perform this dark and complex story. Brack, Gotta, and Reed, dressed as cigarette girls and other assorted women of the night, danced around the hapless Ludlow, as the ghost of his former love, played by Cartelli, haunted his every move.
Bizarre Science Fantasy was one of the more magical—and scary—evenings of theater that I have seen in a long time. All of the performers were more than game for every situation that director Jeffrey Lewonczyk put them in, and I found great joy, and spine-tingling horror, in being brought along for the ride. I highly recommend this evening of silent theater. Words just can't do it justice.
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Brick Theater
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Category: Dance Theater
Written by: Jeffrey A. Lewonczyk
Directed by: Jeffrey A. Lewonczyk
Produced by: Piper McKenzie Productions
Opened: January 14, 2005
Closed: February 5, 2005
Running Time: 90 Minutes
Theater: Brick Theater
Address: 575 Metropolitan Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Yahoo! Maps Directions
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Tickets: $10.00
None
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Written, Directed and Narrated by Jeffrey A. Lewonczyk
Lighting Design: James Bedell
Costume Design: Hope Cartelli
Starring:
Katie Brack
Hope Cartelli
Jessi Gotta
Devon Hawkes Ludlow
Robin Reed
Produced by : Piper McKenzie Productions
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