Director Isabelle Kralj
Theatre Gigante is dabbling in Expressionism with their newest performance, Crave, a look into hopeless human nature. Playwright Sarah Kane, a poet at heart, deals with dark themes of love, lust, suffering, loneliness, grief, coping and all things sexual; the 1998 play seems to be a take on depression and trauma, making numerous references to rape, in particular child rape.
The play’s structure can be off-putting: It is fragmented, doing away with a plot—shattering it with a sledgehammer. Kane throws off the shackles of traditional storytelling to experiment with disembodied voices spewing their feelings into the void. Splashes of emotions dripping from the pages, like despairing brush strokes on the play’s canvas, are being read by four performers standing still in front of the audience. The characters aren’t really characters either, they are carriers for the snippets of humanity contained within the script. Referred only as letters, M, C, B and A, the four of them are as broken as the play’s structure, and we see a bleak world through the prism of their experiences.
As Kane did not leave any stage directions, the performers—Isabelle Kralj, Mark Anderson, David Flores and Jane Kaczmarek (Lois from “Malcolm in the Middle”)—can interpret the script. When Kane writes, “Hahaha; Hohoho; Hihihi,” what emotions should the performers embody? They chose to read the onomatopoeias on a flat tone, giving the chilling impression of fake laughter, like they have never felt enough joy to properly emulate it. The talent of all four actors shines through as they capture the attention of the audience and words flow melodiously, bouncing from one perspective to the other, from one truth to another, seamlessly. They infuse the words with humanity.
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Accompanying the actors, smooth jazz adds to the hollowness of it all. Saxophonist Aaron Gardner, bassist Sam Winterheimer and guitarist Steve Peplin offer live music to introduce the one-act play, and the entire second act, following the intermission, is dedicated to music, as the audience can walk around the Jan Serr Studio, reflecting on Crave and admiring the beautiful view out of the massive window that serves as a backdrop to the performance.
Through March 15 at Jan Serr Studio, 1926 E. Kenilworth Place.
