Photo credit: Valerie Lighthart
I’ve now seen two fine productions by the newly formed resident theater company of the Saint Kate Arts Hotel. Both were of unusually interesting plays that I’ve read or read about but never seen staged. The first was this company’s debut production, America Hurrah, by the pioneering Off-Off Broadway playwright Jean-Claude van Itallie. It’s a savage, surrealist trilogy about the state of the nation in 1965, and it is still applicable. The second was the current production of They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay! by the late Italian leftwing political farceur Dario Fo, recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature and, in his day, the world’s most widely performed living playwright. I know of no other theater in town that’s providing such an education in experimental theater history.
As if that weren’t enough, there’s a 10:30 p.m. late show after each performance of Fo’s farce. Titled Cyclops: The Monsterpiece, which is a 45-minute world premiere created by company member and rising Milwaukee playwright J.J. Gatesman with and for the entire ensemble. I hope to see it before both productions close on Saturday, Oct. 26.
The hotel’s ARC Theatre is perfect from an audience point of view, big enough to breathe in, small enough to be close to the actors, with comfortable seats and fine sight lines. Sets, props, costumes, lighting and sound were simple but cared for, and they were right for each play’s style.
Along with play selection, acting and directing are the strong points. The actors have become a real ensemble under Nancy Kresin’s skilled directing. I look forward to seeing them again. The cast of the Fo play—Emily Elliott, Rachel Meldman, Seth K. Hale, J.J. Gatesman and Tim Gutknecht—executed the physical and verbal gymnastics of the commedia dell’arte performance style flawlessly. It’s very funny, fast, precise; very much like “Saturday Night Live” in style. It was dazzling, in fact, yet I never saw them showing off. All the focus was on giving us the play in all its silliness and sense. Entertainment was the aim, and yet the serious plea that people have to matter more than corporate profits was sincerely delivered. The show felt very much like Milwaukee to me.
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Too good to be true, possibly, and it may not last. The audience was small, but we laughed heartily throughout. The company is new and not well publicized. They need time and support. I hope they get it.
Through Oct. 26 at the ARC Theatre, 139 E. Kilbourn Ave. For tickets, call 414-276-8686 or visit saintkatearts.com.
