Cast members (from left) Sarah Olmsted Thomas, Gwen Grastorf, Mark Jaster, Alex Vernon, and Sabrina Selma Mandell appear in Juxtapose | A Theatrical Shadow Box.
A work that has been collaboratively devised by members of the Happenstance Theater troupe, Juxtapose | A Theatrical Shadow Box cites as its influences the artworks of Joseph Cornell and the French films Amélie (2001) and Mon Oncle (1958). The play, directed by Mark Jaster and Sabrina Selma Mandell, explores randomness and dissimilarity and focuses on the lives of tenants in a French apartment house through a series of scenes that can be identified from their artistic influences or simply enjoyed as charming vignettes arranged in visually striking tableaux. Either way, the result is a multilayered and curious work that is both thought-provoking and delightful.
Blue (Alex Vernon) and Spilleth (Gwen Grastorf) perform a pas de deux with a found rope.
In the Parisian apartment house, the tenants go about their daily routines. French is spoken intermittently. A Francophone soundtrack evokes the distant past—a time when laundry is hung on clotheslines. Residents glide like mimes inside an illuminated theatrical box at center stage, obviously inspired by Cornell’s staged shadow boxes, which bring random, dissimilar objects together. In this case, those objects include the residents themselves.
The characters are surrounded by items from different eras and environments: a wind-up record player, a conch shell, a long piece of rope, an unopened box. Each becomes part of the narrative. The elegant set design by Jaster, Mandell and Alex Vernon establishes the prominence of the shadow box while integrating items to support the characters’ stories.
The whimsy associated with the two French films is intermittently interrupted during the 80-minute play by dire warnings of potential disasters: a virus affecting livestock, an asteroid heading toward Earth, warming oceans, aerial attacks requiring shelter. These interruptions briefly unsettle the residents, who listen, take note, and then slowly resume their lives. Despite the ominous news, friendship among the residents blooms—a recurring feature of the films referenced. Blue (Alex Vernon) recalls the mostly mute Monsieur Hulot, the character created and played by writer-director Jacques Tati in Mon Oncle. Blue moves throughout the building while balancing and bouncing a blue ball, interacting largely in silence with the other residents. His physicality and mime-like movement strongly echo Hulot.
Étoile is a nervous dancer who wears a red dress reminiscent of Amélie’s. She obsessively seeks to understand what is happening in the building and is easily frustrated. Frequently exasperated by what she perceives as rude behavior from the other tenants, she navigates the space as a mime, opening and closing imaginary doors and locks.
Collector (Mark Jaster) holds a conch, one of his many found objects, and explains the word’s etymology. Photographs by Leah Huete.
Rosabelle (Sabrina Selma Mandell) is the concierge of the building, with a fondness for old-time records played on a wind-up Victrola. She manages the house and embodies a traditional aspect of French life—one rooted in an earlier era, when tragedy might have already struck rather than merely being foretold.
Given the play’s embrace of randomness and flights of fancy, Spilleth (Gwen Grastorf) is a person—or perhaps an alien—who survives crashing through the roof of the building. Naturally, she becomes a welcomed member of the household.
In humorous displays of savoir-faire, Rosabelle offers Spilleth the attic apartment to rent. Étoile worries about whether Spilleth has signed the proper residency papers. No one considers alerting the authorities that someone has fallen from the sky or making plans to repair the roof. C’est bon.
Channeling Cornell’s sensibility—more than two dozen Cornell works are credited in the program as inspirations—the resident known as the Collector (Mark Jaster) gathers items and attempts to discern their significance. His character may hold the key to understanding the play. According to the Collector:
You may call it a fool’s errand, but I’m convinced it’s a worthy one: to capture and see a thing born of a particular moment in the past in juxtaposition to this present moment, and even to a time to come. It is how I play an active role in the mystery of Time itself.
The production has been meticulously constructed by Happenstance Theater using specific Cornell works delineated in the program. While this may feel like extra credit for the audience, it underscores the troupe’s commitment to, and reverence for, its influences.
The production is highly entertaining and visually arresting. Although it is not set in a specific period, a final warning prompts Rosabelle to say, “I can’t believe it’s happening again.” Is this a reference to World War II? Drawing on the spirit of the French Resistance, Rosabelle concludes, “Then we make a new life.”
Juxtapose | A Theatrical Shadow Box runs through Jan. 25 at 59E59 Theaters (59 E. 59th St.). Performances are Tuesday through Sunday at 7:15 p.m. (no Monday performances), with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:15 p.m. For tickets and additional information, visit 59e59.org.
Play: Collaboratively devised by Happenstance Theater members Mark Jaster, Sabrina Selma Mandell, Gwen Grastorf, Sarah Olmsted Thomas, Alex Vernon
Codirectors: Mark Jaster & Sabrina Selma Mandell
Set & Props Design: Mark Jaster, Sabrina Selma Mandell & Alex Vernon
Costume Design: Sabrina Selma Mandell
Puppet Design & Construction: Sarah Olmsted Thomas and Alex Vernon
Lighting design: Daniel Weissglass & Kris Thompson
Sound design: Madeline Oslejsek
