29 Things to Do on a Rainy Day
“…the vignettes forged by director Erin McBride Africa’s seven-member ensemble have a genuine sense of fun and surprise…The most effective of these is wordless, as the actors intently fill cans, bottles, pots and pans with varying levels of water, then create evocative music with their makeshift instruments. That – and a disarming speech midway through are the most authentically Rauschenbergian moments…”
Rob Kendt, LA Times
Veronika Decides to Die
“As Veronika lives out her last days in the asylum, she faces her mortality, contemplates the meaning of sanity, and rediscovers life’s pleasures. Based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Paulo Coelho, adapted and directed by Erin McBride Africa…Not every group could pull off this heavy show, but under smooth direction of Africa the cast refuses to bow under the weight of Coehlo’s words and ideas.”
Sarika Chawla, Backstage West
The Other Shore (Assistant Director/Choreographer)
“Nobel Laureate playwright Gao Xingjian employs a dizzying but riveting array of theatrical styles in this avant-garde work, which was banned in his native China due to its bold anti-Communist themes. One is initially drawn into to what appears to be a quintessential example of didactic Brechtian presentationalism. Before long, we decide it’s closer to classic Beckett absurdism. Then subsequent segments with artfully stylized group movements and dance suggest the conventions of shadow plays or other Asian theatrical forms. This amalgam of diverse styles yields amazingly cohesive results, as eloquent symbolic imagery takes precedence over conventional narrative. Director Wienckowski and a splendidly agile ensemble illuminate Xingjian’s timelessly compelling vision, a plea for human liberty and peace….
…The spellbinding sense of surrealism in the actors’ graceful movement, beautifully choreographed by Erin McBride Africa, as well as their crazed speech, work in effective counterpoint to the black-and-white simplicity of Jay Africa’s unit set and Wienckowski’s costumes. Rebecca Bloundt’s lighting supports the rapid mood shifts, and original music by Carmen Balas and Lena Tufenkjian is intoxicatingly potent.”
Les Spindle, Backstage West
Oedipus the King (Choreographer)
GOING SLAPSTICK WITH SOPHOCLES
Wacky ‘Oedipus the King’ views tragedy through absurdist lens.
“It’s raining seltzer water on Thebes in “Oedipus the King” at Theatre/Theater. This Sons of Beckett vaudevillian adaptation of Sophocles’ deathless tragedy whips patricide, incest and manifest destiny into an uproarious blend of Tex Avery, Ernie Kovacs and National Lampoon. Director Jeffrey Wienckowski goes for old-time music hall, instantly evident from Brian Johnson’s set, Tim Watson’s footlights and the barbershop house music. The Greek chorus of “OediPals” (composer-musical director Christopher P. Ellis, Kevin Ellis, Johnson and Marilyn Zaslow) are sublime. These ham-fisted harmonizers launch their insidious prologue with a glee that is blindingly funny. So, mostly, is the show that follows, its twisted trajectory and fractured focus maintained by Wienckowski’s costumes, arranger Heidi Kushnatsian’s honky-tonk accompaniment and, certainly, the certifiable cast. Jay Africa’s Oedipus is an unflagging absurdist patsy, and the Winifred Shaw-flavored Jocasta, played by real-life spouse and choreographer Erin McBride Africa, defies rational analysis. The religious and sheep-tending factions of Richard-Edward de Vere and Eric Carter; Kelli Anne’s cocktail waitress Euridice; and the inbred nightmare pair of Asia Garcia’s Antigone and Anna Kennelly Baardsen’s Ismene are all hysterical. Wienckowski’s blind Teireseas needs direction but fractures nonetheless, and, as the pickled Kreon, Chairman Barnes is a devastating comic find. The savage climax can’t be sustained without dropping comedy for Grand Guignol melodrama; how to reach a tragicomic resolution with the sick hilarity of a John Waters is an unsolved riddle. Still, this goofball romp is surely the brightest deconstructed Grecian formula since Steven Berkoff’s ‘Greek,’ which augurs well for its future.” (David C. Nichols)
David C. Nichols, LA Times
29 Things to Do on a Rainy Day
“…the vignettes forged by director Erin McBride Africa’s seven-member ensemble have a genuine sense of fun and surprise…The most effective of these is wordless, as the actors intently fill cans, bottles, pots and pans with varying levels of water, then create evocative music with their makeshift instruments. That – and a disarming speech midway through are the most authentically Rauschenbergian moments…”
Rob Kendt, LA Times
Veronika Decides to Die
“As Veronika lives out her last days in the asylum, she faces her mortality, contemplates the meaning of sanity, and rediscovers life’s pleasures. Based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Paulo Coelho, adapted and directed by Erin McBride Africa…Not every group could pull off this heavy show, but under smooth direction of Africa the cast refuses to bow under the weight of Coehlo’s words and ideas.”
Sarika Chawla, Backstage West
The Other Shore
(Assistant Director/
Choreographer)
“Nobel Laureate playwright Gao Xingjian employs a dizzying but riveting array of theatrical styles in this avant-garde work, which was banned in his native China due to its bold anti-Communist themes. One is initially drawn into to what appears to be a quintessential example of didactic Brechtian presentationalism. Before long, we decide it’s closer to classic Beckett absurdism. Then subsequent segments with artfully stylized group movements and dance suggest the conventions of shadow plays or other Asian theatrical forms. This amalgam of diverse styles yields amazingly cohesive results, as eloquent symbolic imagery takes precedence over conventional narrative. Director Wienckowski and a splendidly agile ensemble illuminate Xingjian’s timelessly compelling vision, a plea for human liberty and peace….
…The spellbinding sense of surrealism in the actors’ graceful movement, beautifully choreographed by Erin McBride Africa, as well as their crazed speech, work in effective counterpoint to the black-and-white simplicity of Jay Africa’s unit set and Wienckowski’s costumes. Rebecca Bloundt’s lighting supports the rapid mood shifts, and original music by Carmen Balas and Lena Tufenkjian is intoxicatingly potent.”
Les Spindle, Backstage West
Oedipus the King (Choreographer)
GOING SLAPSTICK WITH SOPHOCLES
Wacky ‘Oedipus the King’ views tragedy through absurdist lens.
“It’s raining seltzer water on Thebes in “Oedipus the King” at Theatre/Theater. This Sons of Beckett vaudevillian adaptation of Sophocles’ deathless tragedy whips patricide, incest and manifest destiny into an uproarious blend of Tex Avery, Ernie Kovacs and National Lampoon. Director Jeffrey Wienckowski goes for old-time music hall, instantly evident from Brian Johnson’s set, Tim Watson’s footlights and the barbershop house music. The Greek chorus of “OediPals” (composer-musical director Christopher P. Ellis, Kevin Ellis, Johnson and Marilyn Zaslow) are sublime. These ham-fisted harmonizers launch their insidious prologue with a glee that is blindingly funny. So, mostly, is the show that follows, its twisted trajectory and fractured focus maintained by Wienckowski’s costumes, arranger Heidi Kushnatsian’s honky-tonk accompaniment and, certainly, the certifiable cast. Jay Africa’s Oedipus is an unflagging absurdist patsy, and the Winifred Shaw-flavored Jocasta, played by real-life spouse and choreographer Erin McBride Africa, defies rational analysis. The religious and sheep-tending factions of Richard-Edward de Vere and Eric Carter; Kelli Anne’s cocktail waitress Euridice; and the inbred nightmare pair of Asia Garcia’s Antigone and Anna Kennelly Baardsen’s Ismene are all hysterical. Wienckowski’s blind Teireseas needs direction but fractures nonetheless, and, as the pickled Kreon, Chairman Barnes is a devastating comic find. The savage climax can’t be sustained without dropping comedy for Grand Guignol melodrama; how to reach a tragicomic resolution with the sick hilarity of a John Waters is an unsolved riddle. Still, this goofball romp is surely the brightest deconstructed Grecian formula since Steven Berkoff’s ‘Greek,’ which augurs well for its future.” (David C. Nichols)