Car Stories

Making recommendations seems out of keeping with the “take a chance” spirit of the Buffalo Infringement Festival. Still, I do try to steer myself toward good theater experiences, so I might as well share my decision-making process. With so many offerings, I will certainly see particular shows, while deciding to pass on others. To a certain extent, my viewing is governed by scheduling, but that is certainly not the overriding factor.

My interest is scripted narrative theater. I am particularly hoping to see promising new work, promising new artists, or familiar artists taking on new challenges. My hope is that familiar seasoned artists of proven quality will guide me in those directions. It’s a kind of coat-tail or apprenticeship theory. One-person attractions or anonymous offerings, therefore, are a very difficult sell with me—unless absolutely nothing else is being presented at the same time. The exception would be an individual or project that interests me for additional reasons.

With so many choices, and so little information available, I have not yet made firm decisions. On the festival Web site, it is difficult to determine which titles are actually plays—as opposed to live music events, or dance events, or poetry events, or fire-eaters. After going through the cumbersome task of clicking on every item, however, I am beginning to make my way.

My good experience, last year, with Brazen-faced Varlets and their production of Ramona & Juliet, assures a return visit to see Midsummer Dyke’s Dream at Rust Belt Books, provided the temperature does not top 75 degrees on that day. (It can be a steamy little room in exactly the wrong ways). There will be one performance at Hallwalls—that might be the ticket.

The staged-reading of Axeman’s Jazz, written by Matthew LaChiusa and presented by Morphine Hearts Productions interests me; it’s an original play “focusing on a series of bizarre axe-murders that terrorized New Orleans in 1919.” The show has actors Hugh Davis and Thomas LaChiusa, which bodes well. This can be seen either at Rust Belt Books, or at the Nina Freudenheim Gallery.

Virginia Brannon’s Real/not Real, “a short play about the absurdity of the power of the media in America” sounds interesting.

I am kind of intrigued by Car Stories, “Montreal’s longest-running theatre experiment” and “the most fun you’ll have in the backseat of a car.” The Buffalonian in me does recoil at the show’s import status; I look upon this festival as a chance to cultivate and to see the local talent. There have been calls for local talent to participate in Car Stories; I do not know the results. Also, the “guided tour through the urban wonderland for three spectators at a time” aspect sounds a bit intimate for my taste. I prefer to indulge in theater solely as a spectator, entirely unmolested. Given my naturally shyness and down-home xenophobia, I’m still thinking about it this one.

I am also considering the production of David Rabe’s Those the River Keeps, which is presented by Trajicom Productions. The company did Rabe’s Hurlyburly earlier this year with impressive results. This is not an original, piece, that’s true. A cast list might confirm my decision to see it. More information about the Rare Birds Theater Group production of Pope Joan might similarly tip me in its direction.