Hand2Mouth Theatre | Repeat After Me Nov 2, 2007
by Tania
Welcome to our review blogs for Repeat After Me. Read the reviews below, click on the Comments button to read the comments of others and post your own thoughts.
Hand2Mouth | Repeat After Me. 10, 9, 8, 7... Nov 2, 2007
by Tania
Repeat after me begins in a vulnerable way. "Can you hear me, is this loud enough?" as the mic check happens at the top of the show, bringing you right into the performance; American dance #1, PBR, pie eating, American tableaux #3, Toby Keith, American flag underwear, sentimental karaoke.
The piece satirizes an America that most Seattlites don't experience, but also highlights a patriotism that I began to long for by the end.
Hand2Mouth | Repeat After Me, not a repeat for me Nov 2, 2007
by Tania
I have a really hard time with chaotic theater. It's a rare show that captures my attention and keeps me from engaging my obsessive desires for thematic order and visual clarity. When I watched the 20-minute version of this piece during the NW New Works Festival this past spring, I just did not get it.
hand2mouth: messy, sticky, gooey fun Nov 2, 2007
by Bret
It must be said that 'Repeat After Me' is not a rigorous investigation of patriotism or the country culture that produces songs like "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue" and "Where the Stars and Stripes and Eagle Fly." There are some interesting juxtapositions, and the cast does a pretty good job of singing the songs straight and not mocking them (though the recurring stripping down to American flag underwear and same-sex kisses suggests a non-red-state perspective), but this show is more about creating theatrical spectacle than political analysis.
And as spectacle, it's entirely enjoyab
John Jasperse Company | Misuse liable to prosecution Oct 19, 2007
by Tania
Welcome to our review blogs for Misuse liable to prosecution. Read the reviews below or click on the Comments button to read the comments of others and post your own thoughts.
John Jasperse | Belief in Dance Oct 19, 2007
by Sara E
I was looking forward to this show, but honestly thought it might wax heavy handed or overly serious. Just two dancers in 2004 blew my mind, but watching it was a little bit of work ”¦ kind of like a difficult math equation where the process is cathartic and stimulating and when you find the answer you feel like a genius, but there were brow-furrowing moments that left me stumped and introspective. Misuse liable to prosecution adopts a similar conceptual rigor but viscerally, the show is an indulgent delight – elegant, precise and highly entertaining.
(extra) ordinary, John Jasperse Oct 19, 2007
by Tania
The costuming, visual design, choreography, music, and dancing made last night’s performance a truly pleasurable feast for the senses. It made me think about how everything you could ever want to know, experience and understand about life is right in front of you. Thank goodness for art that effortlessly invites the audience to continually shift their perception, activating the infinite potential of how we can interact with the everyday world.
The dancers were highly skilled, yet refreshingly unexploited for it.
John Jasperse's Misuses Oct 19, 2007
by Tania
The entire set of John Jasperse’s piece, Misuse Liable to Prosecution is comprised entirely of objects that are found, borrowed or stolen. The notion intrigued me, big time, since Helsinki Syndrome pieces have so much “stuff ” in ”˜em, and the stuff is often a cheap representation of the original idea.
John Jasperse at OtB Oct 19, 2007
by Tania
I love a choreographer who takes simple ideas, simple props and unassuming dancers and makes a complicated dance. I love John Jasperse. This is exactly what he does in Misuse liable to prosecution premiering at On the Boards. (I also love NY choreographers who premiere work in Seattle!) I walked in to the theater with a premonition that I would enjoy the evening. His work had always satisfied me in the past: two dancers (@ OtB), California (@ TBA) with that perfect combination of accessibility and braininess.
Jasperse in residency Oct 12, 2007
by Sara E
This snapshot was taken during rehearsal yesterday for "Misuse liable to prosecution", the new show by John Jasperse Company. The photo was taken by John’s amazing lighting designer Joe Levasseur.
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