Photo Credit: Lily Shea Photography
J.J. Gatesman and Cooperative Performance stage an endearingly comic work of original physical theater with the premiere of Machina Persona. A cast of six play steampunk-inspired archetypes who are all working together on a flying machine. Ethan Eichstedt-Anderson has designed a bulbous, modular piece of scenery that serves as a stylish centerpiece to the narrative. Sarah Busch’s cleverly wonky costume design clearly defines the visual personality of each of the six characters who busily buzz about the tiny studio space engaging in various bits of business. The comings and goings of the tight, little six-person drama swiftly glide through a flurry of activity.
Gatesman and company have developed a rich interpersonal social life for the cast. Scarcely speaking in any identifiable language, the cast embellishes emotion with a steady rattle of movement, motion, diction and intonation. Dennis Lewis lends durably hearty energy to the stage as the little community’s engineer. Rose Grizzell renders the clockwork world richly detailed technical complexity as the Pilot. Deborah Oettinger exasperates the rest of the cast in the role of an influential collector of odd items. Maura Atwood conjures wildly playful cheerfulness as a stowaway who is gradually welcomed as a newcomer to the little community. Kellie Wambold brings an entirely different playfulness to the stage as the Scientist, an inventor who suffers from great anxiety in some of the show’s more serious moment. Maya Danks rounds out the cast as a towering, charismatic soldier who suffers from her own darkness around the corners of the action.
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Through April 20 at North Milwaukee Arthaus, 5151 N. 35th St. For tickets, visit cooperativeperformance.org.
