Dr. Gardener (Andrew Dawson, left) deals with his unruly patient (Brian Barnhart) in Randall Sharp’s Specimen at the Axis Theatre.
Randall Sharp has been writing and directing plays for her Axis Theatre Company for more than 30 years. Radiating from the basement of One Sheridan Square, the sacred and profane locale that once housed Café Society, then Charles Ludlam’s Ridiculous Theatrical Company, Sharp’s jabby storytelling is never without its quirks. Her latest work, a space oddity called Specimen, is no exception.
Upon arrival, the audience bears witness to the bridge of a spaceship that has seen better days. A glitchy video is playing on a loop across the ship’s computer terminals, from which the play’s exposition pours forth. A corporate entity, VitaNavis, has dispatched a fleet of ships. Their mission is to travel “the four corners of the known universe” to bring back living alien specimens. The bigger and better the samples, the higher the commission for the ship’s inhabitants. Capitalism, it seems, is future-proof.
Lt. Gordon (Julian Rozzell, Jr., left) confers with medical assistant Longshore (Jon McCormick). Photographs by Regina Betancourt.
But all is not well aboard this particular “hunk a junk” as it heads back to Earth with its payload. Most of the personnel have fled, leaving just a skeleton crew to keep order. Nearly all of the specimens collected on the mission have died or just smell really bad. Many have also been rudely “poked” offstage. The food supply may be contaminated. And an explosion in another part of the ship has screwed up the communications and propulsion systems. Limping along through the cosmos, blasts of random music and unplanned video transmissions fill the air, as rumors of “blood, everywhere” stoke paranoia.
As the classic sci-fi film Alien observed, in space, no one can hear you scream. But for the six principal characters in this production, it is not for lack of trying. Under Sharp’s direction, yelling and ranting are the order of the night across a brisk 70 minutes of in-flight infighting and general mayhem. Dr. Gardener (Andrew Dawson) and the supposedly in-charge Lieutenant Gordon (Julian Rozzell, Jr.) are the first offenders, growing irate when the organism they are busily prodding kicks the bucket. Prop and scenic codesigner Lynn Mancinelli no doubt had a field day conjuring up this mangled dead cat of a creature. More of the same would have been welcome, but the rest of the menagerie are, for the most part, hidden away in small jars.
The aptly named Louden (Jim Sterling) is the communications officer and apparent music arbiter, riding a bike through the ship and generally losing control of any piece of equipment he puts his hands on. There is a certain downtown vibe to these audio shenanigans thanks to sound designer Paul Carbonara, who, for years, was a guitarist in the band Blondie. Other crewmates include the unhelpful medical assistant Longshore (Jon McCormick) and engineer Overholser (Britt Genelin), the most fully formed character of the pack, claiming she is fine while recovering from an attack by a deranged shipmate. Meanwhile, the captain (Mancinelli) leads from behind, appearing only on video screens and growing ever more unhinged.
Communications officer Louden (Jim Sterling) makes himself heard.
The action pivots mightily when, without warning, a visitor (Brian Barnhart) arrives via a space pod jettisoned from a nearby sister ship. It turns out he is just as vociferous as the rest, but his identity is soon called into question. Is he an “Andro,” the motherlode of all aliens, capable of looking human and worth a fortune to its captors? Or is he one of the sister ship’s crew, suffering from a “brain thing” that is driving him mad? He seems too nattily dressed to be otherworldly, yet he is totally confused by his physical form, bemoaning, “Something’s banging in my chest. I’m standing on two things touching the ground.”
The set by Sharp, McCormick, and Mancinelli is a geeky cacophony of knobs, screens, keyboards, and other electronic paraphernalia housed within worn, industrial walls, a funhouse version of the hovercraft from the film The Matrix. David Zeffren’s lighting is spot on in its use of cool blue hues and red flashing alerts. Having been the Axis lighting designer since 1997, he clearly knows this space like the back of his hand.
Given a work that asks what makes an alien different from a human, Sharp holds back on her politics—that is, until late in the play, when she delivers a gut punch. After a bout of abusive testing to determine his make-up, the victimized specimen asks, “What kind of people are you?” Gordon responds proudly, “We’re Americans.”
Sharp’s larger concern, though, appears to involve the nature of being held for observation. Perhaps the aliens are not the only captive specimens? Is not the crew at the mercy of its corporate overlord? Are not the actors at the mercy of their audience?
The Axis Theatre Company production of Specimen runs through June 6 at Axis Theatre (1 Sheridan Square). Performances are at 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. For tickets and information, visit axiscompany.org.
Playwright & Direction: Randall Sharp
Sets: Randall Sharp, Jon McCormick & Lynn Mancinelli
Costumes: Karl Ruckdeschel
Lighting: David Zeffren
Sound: Paul Carbonara
Video: Nicholas Guldner
