Although probably less known to the world at large, Charles Mee
is currently the toast of theater lovers everywhere.
For the last two or three years, the polio-stricken writer of a
growing canon of plays, and author of the autobiography “An
Almost Normal Life,” has seen his plays surge in popularity.
One would be hard-pressed to find a “new” playwright
that’s currently more produced than Mee ““ he’s
everywhere.
UCLA theater professor Mel Shapiro directed Mee’s play
“Big Love” last season at L.A.’s Pacific
Residence Theatre. Now, Shapiro, fellow UCLA theater professor
Michael McLain and theater graduate student Brian Kite, have
finally brought Mee’s plays to UCLA in the biggest possible
way ““ a playwright’s festival that will span both Fall
and Winter quarters. The festival begins this week with
“Orestes 2.0″ and “True Love,” both
co-directed by McLain and Kite, playing in repertory. “True
Love” opens tonight at the Macgowan Little Theater.
Shapiro, writing via e-mail, describes Mee’s plays as
“modern variations on classic legends” and yet
“wildly original.”
“There is nothing like (Mee’s plays)
theatrically,” Shapiro added. “They break the mold of
naturalism although they are realistic. They are a long way from TV
dramas, which much of theatre has become.”
Mee’s plays, according to Kite, draw powerful parallels
between classic tragedy and more recent events of this day and age,
both the sensational and the everyday.
In his works, Mee observes and comments upon the absurdity of
life with a wry and deliberate, oftentimes over-the-top, sense of
humor.
“(The plays are) very funny, but funny in a farcical way,
funny in a tragic or ironic way or funny in a grotesque way,”
Shapiro mused. “The humor comes from a distillation of
experience that is always absurd because everyone is pushing the
envelope until it bursts. Mee takes things as far as it can go,
which is the ultimate act of courageous playmaking.”
The actors, especially, are excited to be performing in
Mee’s plays, not only because there is a sense of the
importance of the works, but also because his plays are so
unique.
“It’s freaking crazy, that’s what it
is,” Vanessa Mizzone, a third-year theater acting graduate
student who plays Shirley in “True Love,” said.
“I would describe (“True Love”) as a mix between
a rock concert, performance art and a piece of theater, all rolled
into one.”
Rocelyn Halili, also a third-year theater acting graduate
student, plays Elektra, the female lead in “Orestes
2.0,” Mee’s take on the Greek myth. She likens the play
to a “dreamscape.”
“The play is a riddle,” Halili said. “With
these two plays, we are putting riddles on stage, and as an
audience member you come in as the last character and try to figure
out what’s happening. And that’s why it’s highly
involved ““ you’re involving the audience a lot in the
whole sensory experience.”
“Orestes 2.0″ and “True Love” are
running now to Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $7. For more
information call (310) 825-2101.