Currently
at the Walnut Street Theatre's Independence Studio 3 is "Natural
History" by
Jennifer Camp.
This three person piece is made up of four stories which all take place at the
New York Museum of Natural History. The play revolves around four rooms, The
Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda, where Ben and Lilian ultimately "find" one another; Birds
of the World,
where the story of Phillip, Claire and their son Buddy unfolds; Ocean Life an extended monologue wherein
James laments his lost love; and The Big Ban, where Barbara, Spencer and
Richard collide in a love triangle .
The
first piece (The Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda) consists of a good deal of
narration and inner monologue (or subtext as in "Morning Becomes
Elektra") wherein Lillian and Ben sit and speak to themselves or to the
audience and only occasionally to each other. Although the theatrical devices
used are short, they still tend to slow the action down, for these two
characters don't actually meet until the end of the piece. Hence the play feels
disjointed and disconnected and never seems to take wing. By contrast, the last
piece, The Big Bang is visceral and exciting. Starting off with a punch in the nose and
ending with a satisfying love resolution it zips along like a little Italian
sports car giving us a delightful ride. The middle two pieces Birds of the
World and Ocean
Life are both
poignant and painful.
The
stage is set up arena style and the set by Glen Sears is quite lovely, giving us the
sense that we the audience are in the museum too - as the walls behind our
chairs are illuminated with different exhibits. The actors do a great job of
constantly shifting their focus around the room to accommodate the audience
which surrounds them on a single row of chairs. Russ Widdall in his three different roles
(Ben/Phillip/Richard) is quite spectacular, as is Evan Jonigkeit (Buddy/James/Spencer)
who has to span some big age differences. Although she has a serene presence
and does an admirable job (especially with the character of Lillian furnishing
her with a bang up English accent), Wendy Sharfman seems to be miscast in this particular
piece. Director Thom Sesma keeps the pieces fluid and he is aided and abetted by
the sound designer John Mock who imbues the evening with a strange floating feeling.
The interesting thing I was left with - is that it gave me the irresistible
urge to want to revisit the Museum of Natural History in the very near future.