[NEOPAL]The "Bird" Has Taken Flight at Bang and Clatter...WSL Review

[bangandclatter at netzero.net]

=91Blackbird=92 comes to nest at Bang and Clatter

Remarkable production shows realities of life =


By David Ritchey =


DOWNTOWN AKRON =97 The Bang and the Clatter Theatre Company has brought =
a realistic and remarkable production of =93Blackbird=94 to the stage at=
 Summit Artspace. =


Playwright Adam Rapp has an impressive vita that includes scholarships, =
fellowships and other honors, including two Drama Desk nominations for =93=
Blackbird.=94

In the play, a blackbird perches outside the window of the tenement wher=
e Baylis (Sean Derry) lives. Baylis shares his humble residence with Fro=
ggy (Alanna Romansky), a woman he met in a strip club. She was a strippe=
r and he fell in lust with her and, somehow, brought her to live with hi=
m. Baylis and Froggy are two sad souls at the end of their individual ro=
pes. =


Baylis, who was a soldier in Operation Desert Storm, married after he wa=
s sent home from serving in the war with Iraq. Due to the exposure of th=
e chemicals he came in contact with during the war, he is not able to ha=
ve sex. He also is incontinent and has a foot problem that makes him lim=
p. =


Froggy may or may not be pregnant (this depends on whether she is lying =
at one point of story or not). She did have a pregnancy and an abortion,=
 which she describes in such graphic detail that people in the audience =
gasped. That pregnancy was the result of incest with her father. As the =
play starts, she has just learned that she has hepatitis. =


Baylis is a rescuer; he wants to make life better for people. He divorce=
d his wife because of his physical condition. He is wise enough to know =
the blackbird is knocking at his window for a reason. He spends most of =
his money for a bus ticket to send Froggy home to her parents; he gives =
himself a shot; and he waits for the omen of the blackbird to find truth=
 in his life. =


In the past, The Bang and The Clatter promoted realistic plays. In this =
production, everything was real =97 characters cooked meals and the audi=
ence could smell the food cooking. The clothes were real clothes, not co=
stumes. This production of =93Blackbird=94 seems to grow out of this sch=
ool of thought. As the production starts, Baylis warms soup on a hotplat=
e and eats the soup. And, in the last moments of the play, Baylis gives =
himself a shot. I thought the actor was doing a great job of faking the =
shot, until I saw him remove the needle and drops of blood formed on his=
 arm. =


Derry is at his best in realistic shows. He inhabits the character and m=
akes everything believable. He is a remarkable actor. =


Romansky plays each segment and each emotion in the right key. Yet, she =
has trouble with modulating from one key to another. Her transitions are=
 not smooth. In real life, we don=92t have transitions from one emotion =
to another; we make abrupt changes. However, the newest emotion does car=
ry as a leftover of some of the previous emotion. =


Director Sean McConaha brought this remarkable script and the two talent=
ed performers together in a memorable production. =


No, =93Blackbird=94 is not an easy production. This is a show for mature=
 audiences. The subject matter is dark and distant. It=92s difficult to =
find compassion for two people who have lost almost every shred of human=
 decency. However, within the confines of the tragedy that is their live=
s, they show compassion and love for each other and for the people who s=
hare their world. =


Most characters reach the point at which the audience sees them on the s=
tage as the result of actions they=92ve taken =97 their own responsibili=
ty. However, in =93Blackbird,=94 each character reaches this point becau=
se of factors outside of his and her control. Serving in Desert Storm de=
stroyed Baylis=92 life. Froggy=92s life was destroyed by her father and =
a cruel back-alley abortion. Perhaps they are victims. =


I recommend this remarkable production to the mature who can view the wo=
rld without a critical eye. =


=93Blackbird=94 continues through April 15 in Summit Artspace, 140 E. Ma=
rket St. For tickets, call (330) 606-5317. =





David Ritchey has a Ph.D. in communications and is a professor of commun=
ications at The University of Akron. He is a member of the American Thea=
tre Critics Association. =