The Group at Strasberg Karen Austin and
Jamieson Stern in "Names," set during the Red
Scare. “Names” Marilyn Monroe Theatre, The
Group at Strasberg Runs through Dec. 23
Set during the time of the Red Scare, the play
“Names” written by Mark Kemble, discloses the
historical impact of the Black List in the entertainment arena. The
play is based on eight members of The Group, a theatrical company,
and shows the staggering loyalty among the characters and the
tensions arising from choosing self-preservation over friendship in
difficult times. The play takes place at the Hotel Algonquin in New
York City on April 10, 1952. It opens with blacklisted movie star
John Garfield, played by Robert Mobley, who brings the members to
the hotel to incite a rebellion and stand against the Committee.
However, the other characters are reluctant to challenge authority,
choosing instead to preserve their careers. Thus, it appears as
though Garfield should be named the hero of the eight characters,
taking a stand against the Committee with a noble and loyal refusal
to give names of fellow communist sympathizers. However, throughout
the play, he is not much of a convincing hero, and his overly
dramatic episodes of anger and outbursts work against him. While
slow at first, the plot picks up when Elia Kazan, played by Shaun
Duke, joins the group at the hotel. Of the eight characters
present, only two of them, Kazan and Lee Strasberg played by Barry
Cutler, are not melodramatic. The others’ extreme hand
gestures and motions make the play appear less real and a bit hard
to relate to. The play is based on historical character, calling
for background knowledge from the audience to fully understand and
appreciate its worth. It appears as though “Names”
could appeal to an older audience, but not so successfully with the
younger generations.
Jinjue Pak “Copenhagen”
Wilshire Theatre Runs through Jan. 6
Bodily fluids spurting everywhere. Sweaty bodies in close
contact. Annoyingly never-ending. Nope, it’s not bad sex, but
close ““ it’s Michael Frayn’s
“Copenhagen.” Set against the backdrop of World War II
coupled with quantum physics, the play is a reenactment of the 1941
meeting between two physicists: Werner Heisenberg (Hank Stratton)
and Neils Bohr (Len Cariou), along with Bohr’s wife,
Margrethe (Mariette Hartley). The play attempts to solve the
unanswered questions of what happened during that definitive
meeting that led Heisenberg to withhold nuclear weapons from the
Nazis. The play starts out forcefully and passionately ““ the
actors jump straight into the meeting and all of its implications
and intricacies. Everything from how hard it was for Heisenberg to
get out of Germany to see Bohr in Denmark, to why Margrethe was so
anxious about his arrival, is so in-depth that the details blur
together and quickly become a confused jumble. It’s the kind
of play that makes audience members sit up and want to take notes
so they can actually remember what’s going on and why. The
play quickly becomes intellectually teasing. Its rapid-fire
conversation and argumentation between Stratton and Cariou keep the
audience awake in the very beginning, but quickly loses its playful
charm. A redeeming quality of the play overall is the commendable
acting, regardless of the fact that the actors have overactive
salivary glands. Though the characters they portray are hopeless
bores the actors’ true talents shine through. Cariou
carefully depicts Bohr as emotional and wise; his facial
expressions add a needed vulnerability to the character. Hartley
has quick-witted commentaries throughout Bohr and
Heisenberg’s verbal sparring matches, and Stratton portrays
an obsessive borderline psychotic physicist whose naiveté and
youth adds a certain charm. Though the characters are the pinnacle
of the play, the dialogue between Bohr and Heisenberg loses about
90 percent of the audience, at least those without prior knowledge
in physics. For example: “Natural Uranium consists of two
different isotopes, U-238 and U-235. Less than 1 percent of it is
U-235, and this tiny fraction is the only tiny part fissionable by
fast neutrons.” You too may find it a little hard to
understand and keep up with. Overall, the play makes viewers think
about life on a different level by capturing and confusing them
with convoluted philosophical dialogue. “Copenhagen”
doesn’t lend itself to a college student, unless it’s
one who’s into taking notes and analyzing life from every
angle.
Siddarth Puri