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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext">Convergence continuum’s THE INTERNATIONALIST is a
linguistic challenge</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext">Roy Berko</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext">(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext"> </span>
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext">--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext"> </span>
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext">Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-family:Palatino;color:windowtext"><span style="mso-tab-count:
1"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext">--coolcleveland.org</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:windowtext">There’s Spanish, German, Hebrew and Italian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Now there is Washburnspeak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:windowtext"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:windowtext">Much of <i>The Internationalist</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style:italic">, a play now in production at convergence
continuum,<i> </i></span>is spoken in a language that is alien to the ear, yet
has a strange familiar authenticity. <span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Every once in a while a Yiddish, English or French word pops
in making the listener assume that what is being said makes sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Forget it.<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>It’s author Anne Washburn’s linguistic invention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>To make matters even more interesting,
or frustrating, depending on your point of view, is that there are no super-titles.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Verdana;color:windowtext"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Verdana;color:windowtext">The wisp of a plot centers on Lowell, an American on
a business trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We don’t know
what the business is, where he is, or why he is there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In fact, by the time the play is over,
depending on your imagination, you might not even know why you went to see this
play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Verdana;color:windowtext"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Verdana;color:windowtext">Lowell is met at the airport by Sara, a beautiful
assistant from the company he is visiting.<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>After spending a night of supposed amour, the real adventure
starts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The task is figuring out
what’s going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Is their internal
robbery, international espionage, insider trading, terrorism?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Who knows.<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>As it turns out, who cares.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:
12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:Palatino;color:windowtext"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext">Originally conceived as a one-act, cc’s production
is a newer two-act version which takes about one-and-a-half hours with a ten
minute intermission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It
matters not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The play misses out
on a wonderful chance to take on the typical American who goes to foreign lands
with little or no knowledge of the verbal and nonverbal customs of the area and
expects the natives to adjust to the ego-centered American.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Or, possibly to show the
difficulty of communication.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Washburn doesn’t accomplish either of those goals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>If you want to see that well-developed, go to New York and
see CHINGLISH. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext">The convergence cast is good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Especially considering that most of
their lines are gibberish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It’s
hard to take cues when the lines don’t make sense, or play off each other when
the understanding is missing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Tom
Kondilas (Lowell), Laurel Hoffman (Sara), Geoffrey Hoffman, Laura Starnik, Ray
Caspio, and Robert Hawkes all try hard to make sense of what they’ve been
given, and put up a valiant but unfortunately losing fight.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:Palatino;color:windowtext">Capsule
Judgement: Convergence-continuum’s Artistic Director Clyde Simon is noted
for often picking off-the-wall plays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>THE INTERATIONALIST is way off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>So much so, that one can only ask what, except its obtusenesss, Simon
saw in this script.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:
Palatino;color:windowtext">THE INTERNATIONALIST runs December 17 at 8 pm
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through at convergence-continuum’s artistic
home, The Liminis, at 2438 Scranton Rd. in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood.
For information and reservations call 216-687-0074.</span></div>
<div> </div><div><i><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#8000FF">Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info. His reviews can also be found on www.coolcleveland.com and www.NeOHIOpal, while special features appear at http://artsamerica.org.<br></font></i></div></div></body></html>