'Happy Plays' (but without Potsy or the Fonz)

Morton Feldman, a composer and Professor of Music at the State University of New York at Buffalo, once met Samuel Beckett and asked him to compose some lyrics for a song. When Beckett asked him why he did not use existing material, Feldman responded by saying that he had read it all and that none of it needed music. Beckett's work has a music all its own. This production of four of his short plays, Come and Go, Ohio Impromtu, Rockaby, and Krapp's Last Tape, illuminates these qualities in revealing and haunting ways, most apparently in its use of music to link the plays together. The set is appropriately spare but not severe; this is a production that glories in the measured cadence of Beckett's work instead of focusing on the starkly ascetic and harsh possibilities in the plays.

COURTESY OF WWW.IMAGI-NATION.COM Beckett, after just barely losing out on the Richie Cunningham role to Ron Howard.

The plays themselves have been assembled under the title Happy Plays, which recalls Beckett's short two-act play, Happy Days, a meditation on loneliness and human perseverance. This production deals with similar themes using innovative lighting and excellent acting. The experience, a truly astonishing one, begins with the haunting sound of a flute, played with ecstatic restraint by Jennifer Meyer, ES '03. The mood is never disrupted throughout the evening.

In Come and Go, three women reunite after the passage of time. Director Aaron Goldhamer, ES '03, opts for a symmetrical staging. The actresses bring out Beckett's rhythms remarkably well. The movement and blocking are intentionally contrived, but Moriah Brier, DC '04, Jessica Brickman, JE '02, and Tatiana Jitkoff, CC '03, move so assuredly that the performance becomes a dance, full of grace and pregnant with meaning. This production sees these women as connected yet individual, portraying a unifying human need for connection.

If there is one of these four plays to see, it is Ohio Impromptu, if only for the performance of Derek Miller, DC '04. As the Listener, he has no dialogue, but coupled with the solid presence of Michael Gutner, ES '02, as the Reader, Miller brings poetry and music to simple raps on a table. This play broods on time as both the Listener and Reader experience past, present, and future within the span of 20 minutes. Goldhamer decides to make the characters old men, perhaps to capitalize on the destitute mood begun by a sad rendition of "Happy Birthday" by Meyer. Unfortunately, the production hesitates here; Gutner is not fully comfortable in the physical habitation of age, though it is a quibble that is soon forgotten once he sits and begins to speak.

Text sung by Timothy Caballero, ES '03, to link the remaining plays makes sense as a transition, but whereas Meyer's contributions transported the mood deeper into solitude, the upbeat, slightly jazzy musical style detracts somewhat from the carefully crafted mood. Nevertheless, the following play, Rockaby, is magical in every way. Virginia Fumagalli captures the power of a memory simply with the quality of her voice. It is soft, with emphasis given to the vowels, the harsh consonants almost disappearing. This is only feasible in the slight con-fines of the Ezra Stiles Little Theater, which magnifies and rewards the efforts of the cast in playing things simply. The lighting works wonders; as the play progresses, the lights dim, leaving Fumagalli in increasing darkness as her words become more poignant. The red light from upstage center, combined with odd makeup, blurs Fumagalli to wonderful effect.

Krapp's Last Tape, the end to an evening so well-begun, is perhaps the least convincing of the four plays, a lesser criticism than it seems considering the stellar quality of this production. Here, the intimate setting of the Little Theater begins to work against the brave performances. Joshua Platt, DC '04, is convincing in introducing the audience to the bitter curmudgeon that Krapp has become, but as Krapp is reliving his past experiences, the closeness becomes a bit much. Platt plays Krapp unapol-ogetically—here is a bitter, crude, uncouth old man—but the quiet pathos and despair that seizes Krapp as the play progresses is not as riveting as it could be. The musical interlude that precedes this play is very apt, save for the musical style, but it serves this play well. "Two is a lonely number," Caballero sings, and he is right, particularly when the two consist of one and oneself.

Theater

Happy Plays By Samuel Beckett Directed by Aaron Goldhamer Fri., Dec. 1, and Sat., Dec. 2, at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Stiles Little Theater

The cast is very well prepared to aid director Goldhamer's vision. The music in the text is brought out. This production is not a theatrical experience so much as a cathartic and soulful journey. Despite their contrivances, the human capacity of these plays is engrossing and touches human emotion and experience with deep profundity. Beckett knew what it was like to be lonely and still persevere—he was forced to hide in France during the German occupation because he worked for the Resistance. His plays mirror this inspiration, and this production expertly depicts not only the despair that accompanies being human, but also the human strength to endure.

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