20th Century Way Review: Rasmussen... Touching, Abusive, Dizzying

Jens Rasmussen & Mike McKeogh

"Rasmussen and McKeogh largely disappear into the sea of characters. Just when you're certain that one of them is dominant, the dramatic tide turns. And then turns again. They strut and prance and glower and hustle. They're touching and insensitive and abusive and ... well, they go through more emotional shifts than there is room to describe here. It's dizzying, right up to the final moments, when Jacobson offers us the most surprising dramatic twist of all."


Full review below:


"The Twentieth-Century Way" starts awkwardly. It's 1914 and two actors – Mr. Brown and Mr. Warren – have shown up to audition for the same film role.

Maybe the situation is supposed to feel awkward. But it also feels forced. You want actors to act, of course. But you don't want it to look like they're acting. You want it to seem "real," whatever that means when you have two people in period costumes standing in front of a paying audience. How real can it be?

Playwright Tom Jacobson's "The Twentieth-Century Way," which opened Friday at the Know Theatre, is a history play. But it's not one that leads you through the plot from point A to point B to point C. In fact, it is told in such an eccentric manner – "convoluted" is too negative a word – that you're never quite sure what story you're watching.

Is it about the two actors in 1914? Or the two actors in 2014? Or is it about the dozens of other characters whose lives intersect with the story? Or is it something else altogether?

Historically speaking, we know that Brown and Warren, played by Michael McKeogh and Jens Rasmussen, respectively – hired themselves out to the Long Beach, Calif., police department to capture "social vagrants." That was a favored description for gay men, particularly those seeking assignations in public places.

They wooed their marks, flirting, leading them on until they had enough evidence – or not – to have them arrested. Never mind that Brown and Warren were the initiators of the crime.

The story itself is only a small part of this play. There is a curious and increasingly mesmerizing symbiosis between the two men. Are they themselves gay? Or are they just desperate for work? Or are they driven by some twisted desire for power? Or something else?

Sometimes Jacobson's script zips around so quickly that it's hard to quite know when one of the main characters morphs into someone else. At one point, they even drift into the script of "Othello."

Fortunately, director Kimberly Faith Hickman devises all manner of guides to shepherd us through the tale: a change of lights, a flower in a lapel, a pair of glasses. And then, of course, there are her actors. Rasmussen and McKeogh largely disappear into the sea of characters. Just when you're certain that one of them is dominant, the dramatic tide turns. And then turns again. They strut and prance and glower and hustle. They're touching and insensitive and abusive and ... well, they go through more emotional shifts than there is room to describe here. It's dizzying, right up to the final moments, when Jacobson offers us the most surprising dramatic twist of all.

"The Twentieth-Century Way" is not a play for lazy theatergoers. You can't sit back and just let bits of entertainment wash over you. That's a legitimate theatergoing experience, too. But this is a play where you need to focus and keep up with everything that unfolds in front of you. If you do, you'll be richly rewarded.

By David Lyman and originally published by The Cincinnati Enquirer

Rasmussen: Simply Mesmerizing

Jens Rasmussen in Conference of the Birds

“The way is open but there is neither traveler nor guide.” That is the closing statement and tagline of Folger Theatre’s production of The Conference of the Birds. Based on the poem by Farid Uddi Attar the stage version is written by Jean-Claude Carrière and Peter Brook. Directed by Aaron Posner this production is a flurry of interpretive dance and movement mingled with the brilliant audio creations of Helen Hayes Award-winning Composer Tom Teasley. The Conference of the Birds allows you to ponder the greater meanings of life along its spiritual and metaphysical journeys and paths.

Scenic Designer Meghan Raham creates a simplistic approach to lining the stage of the Folger for the production. With long stripes of bark-like brownness hanging from the ceiling the stage is reminiscent of a forest or some other wooded gathering where the birds of the world might congregate. Interspersed with columns and backdrops of mirrored surfaces, the set is completed in its mythic proportions with the notions of Lighting Designer Jennifer Schriever. Over two dozen bulbs of various size and shape are hung at various lengths from the ceiling down over the stage and out over the audience, hints and shadows of fireflies or other natural light sources found in the Avian kingdom.

Costume Designer Olivera Gajic takes a similarly minimalist approach to her designs, creating the great birds of the world in shades of grays, browns and subtle shifts in earthy tones like green. This was both a great disappointment and a clever tactic to instill upon the performance. By limiting the physical appearance of the bird’s costumes it ensures the audience must not only imagine their great plumage but rely heavily upon the actor’s physical gestures and embodiments of their avian bird of choice. We do see a hint of color when defining the Peacock and her proud colorful feathers, but outside of this, the rags of dirt and clay coloring leave much to the imagination.

Director Aaron Posner working with Choreographer Erika Chong Shuch crafts moments of intense beauty upon the stage in their execution of exploratory movement. Many of the dances are not dances so much as they are representations of excursions or other parts of the poem as the tale unfolds. Shuch offers a unique approach to the dance work in this production as all of the steps and movements are meant to be performed not by ordinary humans but by humans embodying both physically and mentally the spirit of birds. His casting choices are more than appropriate, picking the smallest of the cast, Britt Duff, as the sparrow; a long elegant and limber body to play the Heron (Tiffany Rachelle Stewart) and a bulky muscular fellow to play the Falcon (Jay Dunn).

Posney’s consistency with the adaptation of human to bird is wavering. At the beginning of the performance when it is quite clear the actors upon stage each represent a great bird of the world, they do so flawlessly. Jutting necks, twitches of the face and head, as well as strutting limbs and ruffled arms to imitate wings; all of these gestures and many more create live birds on the stage from these 11 performers without the aid of fancy costumes or real feathers. The contrast as these “birds” become humans during the Hoopoe’s tales is sharp and clearly defined. The problem comes late in the story, as the birds make their journey across the seven valleys toward the mighty bird king.

After the intermission the actors lose their bird-like qualities and momentum. We no longer see them twitching their heads about like the curious birds from the first half, or scrunching their physical form to look more like the avian counterparts they are portraying. What we do see is weary actors on stage. And while the characters at this point are meant to be exhausted as their perilous journey continues, seeing them completely lose touch with their inner bird is disheartening and disappointing.

The acting is stupendous. The only person who never acts like a bird is the Hoopoe (Patty Gallagher). While she is the leader of the birds gathered and often the narrative story teller among them, seeing her acting as a normal human with no bird like movements or qualities was confusing but not in an enigmatic sense, only a disproportionate one. Gallagher’s performance is engaging, each story she alights to the stage is crisp and brilliant as if being told for the very first time, and her rallying spirit to guide the birds to action is afresh with vigor and lightning.

While each of the birds makes an entertaining appearance, like the Parrot (Robert Barry Fleming) when he shows jittery nerves about leaving his cage, or the Peacock (Jessica Frances Dukes) when she shows up larger than life to squawk, strut her stuff, and show off her colors; the best performances come from these actors when they shed their feathers and slip into the Hoopoe’s stories as humans. The most specific example of this is when the Magpie (Jens Rasmussen) and the Heron (Tiffany Rachelle Stewart) engage in a dreamlike sequence as a princess and slave who share a passionate evening together. Stewart and Rasmussen’s bodies entwine to a sultry beat during an exploratory piece of dance-like movement that is simply mesmerizing; every eye in the house glued to them, entranced upon their physical expressions to the point where the Hoopoe’s narrations are almost completely drowned away in the background.

Mingling with the incredible orchestrations of Tom Teasley is the Nightingale (Annapurna Sriram) and her beautifully haunting song. Sriram plays a small guitar and sings a siren’s song throughout the piece, echoing her voice like the nightingale she portrays with a sweet sorrow. Often joined by others in song, including Britt Duff, Jessica Frances Dukes, and Celeste Jones, the pristine voices of these lady-birds will melt your heart, especially when Duff takes to singing in the valley of love.

The music never misses a beat throughout the production. Teasley’s wild orchestrations are primal in nature and echo cries of these birds without falling into the generic hackneyed trap of bird calling. His rhythms are fierce and drive many of dance numbers with a raucous beat and wild feeling of freedom behind them. Teasley’s composition sounds as if it were derived from the very spirit of the earth; echoing a time of nature with the reality of the world of these birds.

If you can find no other reason to see this production, seeing Tom Teasley in action and hearing his magnificent music is definitely cause to do so.

By Amanda Gunther for DC Metro Theatre Arts

Broadway World: Conference of the Birds is Mesmerizing

With strong direction by Aaron Posner, an eleven member cast and one extraordinary percussionist excel with presenting The Conference of the Birds in such a way that fuses Western and Eastern music and dance influences together to create a spell-binding theatrical event.  This Folger Theatre mainstage production, based on a great work of Sufi literature, allows audience members to ponder large existential questions (largely of the esoteric nature), while being thoroughly entertaining.    The balance that is achieved is remarkable even if some of the physical humor is a bit too overdone for my taste.

Based on the Persian poem that Farid Uddi Attar wrote nearly 1000 years ago, Jean-Claude Carriére and Peter Brook’s allegorical play explores how a group birds endures a difficult journey to find its King (called Simorgh) under the leadership of an extremely dedicated Hoopoe (an effectively authoritarian Patty Gallagher).  As the birds cross diverse terrain, they question not only whether they will make the journey, but also whether the journey will be ‘worth it’ in the end.   They push their physical, emotional, and spiritual limits as those who do finish the journey discover themselves and their own inner strength.

Backed with original music composed and performed by the masterful and award-winning Tom Teasley (who is reason enough to see this show),eleven actors impressively embody our avian friends on a journey without nary a feather on their costumes (cleverly designed by Olivera Gajic).  All are equally skillful with acting/storytelling, physical movement, and singing although several of them have standout moments even in this overwhelmingly ensemble piece.  Britt Duff is endearing as the shy sparrow and has a nice moment in Act II, which shows off her folksy musical talents.   Jessica Frances Dukes uses her strong stage presence to her distinct advantage as she takes on the seemingly self-confident peacock.  With quick, deliberate, and precise physical movement and intense line delivery she exudes power.  When Tiffany Rachelle Stewart is the focus of the scene, whether embodying a heron or a lover, it’s impossible to keep your eyes off her.  Her striking presence, coupled with nuanced acting even in the ensemble-heavy scenes, makes her one to watch.   She’s always in character.

Production-wise, this is one of the strongest I’ve seen at Folger.  Meghan Raham’s scenic design, largely comprised of burlap tapestries and mirrors, highlights the mystical nature of this piece and further illuminates the theme of self-discovery.  Jennifer Schriever innovatively uses an impressive array of light bulbs in her lighting design, which further adds to the ambiance.  The reality presented on stage is mythical and the subtle yet interesting lighting and sound elements (Tom Teasley, Elisheba Ittoop) capture it perfectly.  Erika Chong Shuch’s modern choreography is most effective in scenes where the birds are flying together to their destination and is skillfully executed by all of the actors.  

Strong acting and equally impressive presentation elements make this production one that I’d recommend for the discerning theatregoer. 

By Jennifer Perry for BroadwayWorld.com