 |
|
|
|

Oct 13, 2007
|
Omnium Gatherum Performed to Perfection by Theater
Project Ensemble |
|
The sheer perfection of the Theatre
Project production of Omnium Gatherum
is breathtaking. Director Mark Spina,
the founding Artistic Director of this
upstart company ensconced on the campus
of Union County College, has directed
this messy and nearly plotless 9/11
inspired 90-minute one act play with a
sure-handed smoothness and clarity which
is stunning to behold. It is not
possible to watch this version of
Omnium Gatherum without being held
in thrall to the performances and
production.
However, to this reviewer, the play
written by the much praised and produced
Theresa Rebeck in tandem with Alexandra
Gersten-Vassilaros, is reprehensive in
its view that there is a moral
equivalency between terrorists and their
victims. Additionally, Omnium
Gatherum places the viewer at an
unpleasant gathering of mostly pompous
elitists. While stopping short of
justifying the mass murder of American
innocents by radical Islamic terrorists,
these authors clearly place the blame
for their behavior on America's
monopolization of the world's wealth.
The simplistic and unimplementable
solution to the world's problems
suggested by Omnium Gatherum is
that America eliminate terrorism by
giving up its wealth and seeing to it
that the terrorists are prosperous and
well fed.
The setting is an elegant dinner
party from hell. The time is the Fall of
2001 and the place is New York City. You
will find out more about the location of
the play. How early or late you do so
will depend upon your perspicacity.
While the setting device is borrowed
from successful earlier plays, it is
appropriately employed here.
The hostess and her six guests whom
we see as the play begins are prototypes
of various New Yorkers. The hostess
Suzie (think Martha Stewart), who has
become extremely wealthy by selling
cookware, et al, is serving a très
elegante meal complete with a tiny "amuze
bouche" (her French is very poor)
containing more exotic ingredients than
normal folk are likely to eat in a
month. It is clear from her guest list
that she is more interested in honing
her reputation than she is in the
compatibility of her guests. A seventh,
late arriving guest will firmly
establish her in the class of the
radical chic elite who were so adroitly
skewered by Tom Wolfe more than 35 years
ago. Suzie expresses her political ideas
in clichés (it is difficult to tell if
Rebeck and Gersten-Vassilaros want us to
see them as such). Still, Suzie is
surely being satirized when she makes
the case for her sensitivity by saying,
"I was middle class once. I know what it
feels like." Harriet Trangucci in the
role of Suzie is as smoothly alluring as
the real article. Her Suzie is all
bright surface and she is deliriously
disinterested in exploring any deep
thoughts, whether or not any capacity
for them exists within her. Trangucci
draws us into Suzie's surface glow
despite our better judgment.
Your reaction to four of her guests
will probably vary with your
geo-political outlook, although the
authors have fun at the expense of each
of them. Their greatest disdain is for
the soused and pompous ("I drink to make
other people interesting"), anti-Semitic
Cambridge-educated English commentator
Terence. His adversary is Roger, a brand
name, best selling author of
international espionage thrillers whose
last novel was about jihad. Roger is an
unremitting advocate of the use of
unshackled military force against the
forces of "evil." Still, he scores
points when he asks, "If the United
States gives up world power, who will
step up?". Rick Delaney (Terence) and
Gary Glor (Roger) bring full flavor and
conviction to each of these roles which
are purportedly modeled on Christopher
Hitchens and John Clancy. It is in their
interplay with each other and the other
dinner guests that Delaney and Glor
convince us that this party is a true
reflection of these chic parties. Add
the African-American Julia, a sweet but
glib and shallow, church going pacifist
author and the Asian-American Lydia, a
vaguely radical Asian-American, who
feels that America is misogynistic and
is led into imperialist behavior by a
false belief in white intellectual
superiority. Shirine Babb (Julia) and
Rebecca Moore (Lydia) add to the
production's sense of verisimilitude in
these roles as does Chess Lankford in
the small role of 9/11 responder hero
fireman Jeff.
There is one unalloyed good guy in
shining armor present. Purportedly
modeled after the late Muslim Professor
of Middle Eastern Studies Edward Said is
the erudite and gentlemanly Khalid.
Khalid will have no truck with terrorist
bombers ("You killed randomly. You are
not fit to represent Islam"). He is not
only a fine man whom we would all want
to be our friend, but an Islamist who
speaks out forthrightly against
terrorism. Yet, heroic Khalid makes it
clear that he regards the concentration
of wealth and "unbridled capitalism" in
America as the source of all the world's
ills. Kevin Sebastian fully makes Khalid
as engagingly believable as Rebeck and
Gersten-Vassilaros would have him be.
This review would not be complete
without mention of the late arriving
guest, the terrorist Mohammed (Faisal S.
Sheikh). From his presence, we learn
that when a terrorist is treated with
kindness and given some gourmet food to
eat, all he will then want is to be a
good friend of ours. We also learn that
our terrorist is a loving father (just
the same as fireman hero Jeff).
Omnium Gatherum means a
miscellaneous collection. Those killed
on 9/11 at the World Trade Center were
omnium gatherum. Those appearing on
stage in this play are a deliberate
cross section of atypical stereotypes
designed to propagate a particular
philosophic and political response to
the tragic slaughter of innocents on
that day.
The physical production is excellent.
The set, costumes (Katherine Winter),
lighting design (Jeffrey E. Saltzberg)
and sound design (Andrea Monorchio) all
contribute to creating an other worldly
quality essential to the proceedings.
Director Mark Spina and his talented
cast and crew are due full praise for
this outstanding production of Omnium
Gatherum. Despite discontentment
with the play itself, I found the
Theater Project production to be well
worth seeing.
Omnium Gatherum continues
performances (Thurs.-Sat. 8 p.m./Sun. 3
p.m.) through October 21, 2007 at The
Theater Project at Union County College,
1033 Springfield Avenue, Cranford, NJ
07016. Box Office: 908-659-5189/ online:
www.TheTheaterProject.com.
Omnium Gatherum by Theresa
Rebeck and Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros;
directed by Mark Spina
Cast
Suzie…………..Harriet Trangucci
Khalid……………..Kevin Sebastian
Julia………………….....Shirine Babb
Jeff………………...Chess Lankford
Lydia……………….Rebecca Moore
Terence………………..Rick Delaney
Roger………………………Gary Glor
Mohammed…………Faisal S. Sheikh
Be sure to Check the current schedule
for
theatre in New Jersey
-
Bob Rendell
|
|
|
|
Read
more about the play at:
|
|
|
 |
 |
|