Friday, February 05, 2010

Aelita & Shiny Boxes

We saw Aelita and Shiny Boxes at Dream Theatre tonight, a double bill of plays by Bil Gaines and Mishelle Renee Apalategui.

Both were surreal and involved multiple murders and the walking and talking dead. But they went in completely different directions. Aelita is an abstract philosophical fantasy. Shiny Boxes is a poetic memory of a birthday party gone terribly wrong.

Due to a mishap, Anna Weiler, who directed both pieces, had to step in at the last minute and act in Aelita as well - just for this weekend. Apparently she was up till late last night memorizing her lines. But she never seemed to miss a beat. Probably it helped to have been directing it for weeks and weeks!

Performances were wonderful. I particularly enjoyed Alicia Reese as the motherly Magda, Judith Lesser as the flirtatious Cannon, and Giau Truong as the gigantic Amboy.

When the plays had ended,
the living dead, all mended,
arose and bowed
while we clapped aloud.

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