Michelle Beshaw, Vit Horejs, Deborah Beshaw-Farrell, Valois Mickins, Ben Watts (as Dvorak), Theresa Linnihan.  Photo by Remy.S .

 

                                           By R. Pikser

 

In the late 1800’s Antonin Dvořák came to America to direct the National Conservatory of Music of America.  He was taken by America and American folk music, especially the music of the African Americans, (and the indigenous people, if we are to believe the script), in spite of the best efforts of his cultured hosts to dissuade him from giving value to such unrefined noise.  Dvořák, sticking to his artistic integrity, not only defended these musics, he took the melodies and themes to himself and allowed them to influence his own orchestral and chamber music works. 

 

Vit Horejs.                          Photo by Jonathan Slaff

 

 

Writer/Director Vit Hořejš would have done well to have emulated the composer’s artistic clarity rather than trying for a collage effect that did not elucidate anything and barely conveyed the story he purported to tell.  Besides lack of clarity in the structure of the piece, there were merely technical problems that could have been remedied.  Most of the performers have worked before at La Mama and should have been aware of the acoustic problems of the hall, so that they made sure to project, rather than dropping and even swallowing their voices.  If Mr. Hořejš as director did not insist on projection, the actors needed to defend themselves and to speak up.  The few who did got lost in the shuffle of the collage-like structure.  Similarly, accents needed to be adjusted so that actors could be understood. 

 

Though noted African American composer Will Marion Cook made a few appearances, (apparently he was a student of Dvořák), as did poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, their importance to American cultural history was impossible to glean from the show if one did not know beforehand who they were and why they were important.  The story of Dvořák’s family life was equally muddy. There were references to his love for his sister-in-law, and to some of his children who accompanied him to America, but these characters were so peripheral to the story that one wondered why they were there.

 

Valois Mickins. Photo by Jonathan Slaff

 

The same problematic lack of focus was seen in the treatment of the props.  The beautiful Czech marionettes that one would presume, from the title of the show, were going to make up a large portion of the evening, appeared only desultorily and then were bounced around a bit before they were whisked away.  Why they were used at all in this piece was also unclear.  Though Ken Butler’s musical instrument sculptures suspended from the ceiling of the hall were well crafted and drew the eye, other props were not exploited.  Parts of musical instruments, such as the bodies of celli, were carried around the stage or handed from one person to another to no apparent end.  The shopping cart on which Dvořák was delivered onto the stage for his first entrance, apparently was meant to show that the people in charge had their particular ideas about where he should go and what he should see.  But when it reappeared later on, its fulfilled no function.  The linguistic analysis of the Iroquois language, taken directly from Wikipedia and stuck into the middle of a conversation, had no connection to anything.  And so on.

 

 Harlem Lafayette, Vit Horejs                       Photo by Remy.S

 

Neither Dvořák nor the craftsmen who made the puppets were well-served by this production.  Happily, the excellent music by the JBL trio provided something to guide the audience through the evening.

 

The Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre

The New World Symphony: Dvořák in America

March 10^th-27^th 2016

The Ellen Stewart Theatre

66 East Fourth Street

New York, NY

Tickets $25, Seniors and Students $20

lamama.org