- OTHER MEDIA
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- EXIT, Hoppin'
- Theatre Bay Area Chatterbox July 18, 2009 (Karen Mckevitt)
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- I’ve seen three eclectic, fun and brilliant shows at the EXIT
Theatreplex in the past couple of weeks. (I also got to meet Ramona, the
Exit’s new dog, who’s very sweet and affectionate.)
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- The hot ticket is Spare Stage’s production of Yasmina Reza’s
The Unexpected Man, starring Ken Ruta and Abigail Van Alyn, on the Exit’s
mainstage. What a treat to see Ken Ruta in an intimate theatre. His acting
is so precise yet natural--he makes it look effortless. And Abigail Van
Alyn is a wonderful counter to his bitter character, and she does a wonderful
job of drawing the audience in. And why don’t we see more Yasmina
Reza? The Unexpected Man may come off like a writing exercise, but the
writing is fresh, smart, and the ending is brilliant. The Chronicle gave
the show a glowing review earlier this week, and I’ve heard the tickets
are going fast. Buy yours now. This is a master class in acting and writing.
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- The Flying Actor Studio was on the mainstage late this afternoon with
The Zany and the Surreal, a show to promote its new school of physical
theatre South of Market (you may have seen the ads in my Weekly Update
e-newsletter for Theatre Bay Area members). James Donlon, John Gilkey and
Leonard Pitt each performed several bits ranging from mime to clowning
to mask work, all adding up to 80 minutes of pure fun. You’ll instantly
recognize John Gilkey (if you don’t know his name already) from Cirque
du Soleil, and here he performs some really dark comedy as well as some
zany bits reminiscent of Looney Tunes. James Donlon is mesmerizing—his
Fish routine is visual poetry. Leonard Pitt starts out with some stand-up,
later offering some Dario Fo and enlightening mask work. Great fun. The
next and last show is tomorrow (Sunday) at 3 p.m.
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- Across the hall at Exit Stage Left, Christian Cagigal is mindreading
in Now and at the Hour, a hybrid magic/solo show that’s quite unlike
anything on the San Francisco boards. He weaves his mindreading tricks
into a backstory about growing up with his father, a Vietnam vet who returned
from the war quite mentally altered. Christian’s performance demeanor
is quite disarming. He immediately makes a connection with the audience,
and you feel as if you’re in conversation with someone in his parlor.
And his mindreading tricks are quite clever, but if you just focus on that
you’re missing out on the complex story he’s telling you about
time and memory. His story is kind of like magic in reverse: if magic looks
hard but the explanation is easy, then the story looks easy until you realize
how many secret compartments and trapdoors are in it.
- I’m kind of embarrassed to admit I haven’t been going to
the Exit as much as I used to—and now I realize again that I love
the place so much
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