The Language Archive by Julia Cho, Different Stages at City Theatre, January 10 - February 1, 2014

(www.main.org/diffstages)

by Michael Meigs

Julia Cho's The Language Archive is a gently sentimental tale built inside a concept, similar to the way nesting birds inhabit a hedge. The theme is the failure of communication, and the metaphor is a collection of recordings and documents describing extinct languages curated by George, a fussy, white-coated linguist who's tongue-tied when it comes to expressing any sentiment.

Cho writes her characters as variations on that theme. The gulf between George and his wife Mary is so unbridgeable that Mary tucks cryptic notes into his belongings and denies having done so. George babbles frantically of what's on his heart -- but he addresses the audience instead of Mary. Alta and Resten are the last speakers of an obscure, apparently Central European language, but they're constantly furious with one another and refuse to use that language of intimacy, to the dismay of George the archivist. George's assistant of five years, Emma, loves him beyond reason but also, unfortunately, beyond telling. Esperanto, the completely artificial world language, turns up repeatedly, principally because of its perpetual failure to flourish.

Jennifer Underwood, Norman Blumensaadt (photo: Bret Brookshire)

There's a lot of quiet desperation here, confirming the conventional wisdom that effective comedy is really built on pain. How glad we all are -- playwright, actors and audience -- that by the very action of participating in this evening's performance, we're confirming our own attachment to communicating and to receiving the messages of this story.

Comedy there is, too. Different stages regulars Jennifer Underwood and Norman Blumensaadt as the feisty, querelous and mutually scornful old couple in tribal dress get off one zinger after another, both verbal and mimetic. Their vivid tussles are all the more amusing for those who know that Blumensaadt the company founder has often directed Underwood in her leading roles. Each time she's eloquent and expressive, but her grumpy, silent fury and glowering in this piece remind us that she's a knockabout comedienne, as well.

Read more at Central Texas Live Theatre. . . .

Photos by Bret Brookshire for The Language Archive by Julia Cho, Different Stages at City Theatre, January 10 - February 1, 2014

Photos by Brett Brookshire:

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Trevor Bissell (photo by Bret Brookshire)

Norman Blumensaadt, Trevor Bissell, Jennifer Underwood (photo: Bret Brookshire)

Eva McQuade, Circe Storm (photo: Bret Brookshire)

Click to view additional images by Bret Brookshire at CTXLT.com

ALT Video: THE SUNSET LIMITED by Corman McCarthy, Trinity Street Players, August 2 - 18, 2013

 
A look at the opening scene of the
 





presentation of

August 2 - 18, 2013,Fridays - Sundays

Trinity Street Players, Black Box Theatre, 4th floor, First Baptist Church, 901 Trinity Street - click for map
Tickets are FREE, but reservations may be made at trinitystreetplayers.com/reservations or by calling 512-402-3086. Donations are appreciated.

A near fatal encounter in front of a passenger train brings two very different men together to explore and debate the meaning of life, human suffering, and the existence of God.

Trinity Street Players will present Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Cormac McCarthy’s The Sunset Limited at Trinity Street Theatre located at 901 Trinity Street in downtown Austin. A famous novelist, McCarthy has written All the Pretty Horses, The Road, and No Country for Old Men, all which have been adapted for film. A two-character drama, The Sunset Limited has been billed as a “novel in dramatic form.”

The play involves two nameless characters whose lives intersect when “Black” saves “White” from throwing himself in front of a train. The story unfolds and follows the men as they go back to Black’s sparse Harlem apartment. The men find they are polar opposites; Black reveals himself as an evangelical ex-convict; White, an atheistic professor. As they discuss White's suicide attempt, a verbal duel results, prompting both characters to remain fervently rooted in their beliefs. The Sunset Limited is directed by Patrick Torres, who recently moved to Austin from Washington, DC where he worked for 10 years as a director and educator. The cast includes Trevor Bissell and Derek Jone. Bissell most recently appeared as the title character in the City Theatre's production of William Shakespeare's Othello. Jones has been involved in the performing arts for more than 30 years - acting, directing, writing and producing. He appeared recently on Trinity Street Player's stage in the critically-acclaimed Almost, Maine. He also serves on the board of Austin's local B Iden Payne Awards Council.

About Trinity Street Players – Trinity Street Players is an all-volunteer nonprofit community theatre, committed to providing high-quality, thought-provoking, and entertaining stage productions in the heart of downtown Austin. We believe in making arts accessible and relevant, and welcome all who share a passion for creating and experiencing the transformative power of the theater.