~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Lost Plays of Jacques Du Bon Temps

directed by Mark Jackson
review in SF Bay Guardian June 21, 2000 by Brad Rosenstein

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Out of the murky depths of theater history, Art Street Theater has
dredged these two plays by an obscure progenitor of the theater of
the absurd. Seen here for the first time since their premiere in
1930s Paris, du Bon Temps's plays seem amazingly prophetic,
not only of Beckett and Ionesco but even of several contemporary
San Francisco dramatists. Under director Mark Jackson, an
eight-member ensemble makes du Bon Temps's work its own,
creating a series of light, playful glosses on the nature of
performing itself. Relying mostly on creative movement in these
often wordless vignettes, Gillian Brecker, Kevin Clarke, Chris
Kuckenbaker, and Beth Wilmurt do especially fine work, and
Gillian Chadsey is wonderfully loopy as a playwright whose work
consists of highly emoted single letters. Jake Rodriguez's
compelling sound design adds enormously to the texture of the
evening, which never allows its historical significance to outweigh
its sense of fun. (Rosenstein)

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