L-R: Emma Rose
Kraus, Rocco Sisto, Dee Pelletier Photography © Beatriz Schiller 2
By R. Pikser
Climate
change is an imminent danger to every one of us. Addressing this
overwhelming issue dramatically can be difficult. attendant on global warming
in 2004.
Set
during the record-hot summers of 2004 and 2012, the play pits a scientist named
John Bjornson (Rocco Sisto) against his twin sister, Jeanne (Dee Pelletier), in
a no-holds barred struggle over land ownership and the future use of their
family's wilderness estate. The sister is an energy spokeswoman and is
married to a climate-skeptic lobbyist (Khris Lewin), who helps strategize her
actions. The siblings' dispute reveals the fault lines in America today over
land usage, global warming and climate denial. Supporting John's struggle for
the land are three people. One is the caretaker of the estate, an oracular,
Thoreau-like man named Uncle (Obie-winner George Bartenieff). The others
are John's precocious 13-year old intersex daughter (Emma Rose Kraus) and a
young ice scientist with an important new theory (Clea Straus Rivera).
Convinced
that he must alert the larger public, he finds his work censored by his bosses
at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Even his speaking
engagements are canceled, but he still can survive: He and his daughter
Annie live on a nature preserve willed to them. Annie is the living
examples of what can go wrong when our environment becomes polluted, as she has
apparently ingested some sort of hormones from the water and is hermaphroditic,
like her favorite frog. But then things become more complicated and more
muddled. The relationship between John and his colleague, Rachel, is
never developed, so that we are not prepared when they become lovers, nor do we
care. Johns’ twin sister Jeanne, a publicist, and her gun toting husband,
Sam, are representatives of the villainous people who will turn paradise into a
fracking ground only for present profit.
George
Bartenieff
The
most interesting character, Uncle, who may or may not be a family member,
played with zest and welcome humor by George Bartenieff, is not even essential
to what may be the plot, though he represents God, or Nature, or Philosophy as
he readies himself for death.
Karen
Malpede, writer and director of extreme
whether is a veteran of the Lower East Side theater scene and has
given us interesting and provocative works. By bringing her talents to
political questions she forces us to examine them with our imaginations, so
that they become more real to us. Her current focus is climate change and
the dangers it poses to our survival, and also to the least expected aspects of
our everyday lives. This is important work.
The
problem, which might have been attenuated if Ms. Malpede hadn’t also directed
her play, is that she has tried to graft interpersonal relations onto a
polemical morality play and does not quite accomplish either. Instead of
the personal exemplifying the polemics, both become confused.
The
men’s characters offer the actors more interesting choices than those available
to the women. John goes from diffidence to anger to despair, and even
some hope. Sam, played with pushy physicality by Khris Lewin, gets to
progress to sleazy rapist. The women’s characters are flatter. Emma
Rose Kraus as Annie is the anguished pre-teen on the verge of tears, no matter the
circumstances, whether her passion for her father’s girlfriend, or her own
rape. John’s colleague, Rebecca, (Clea Strauss Rivera) though purportedly
a scientist, does not seem at all focused on her own work involving changes in
planetary ice: She is always available to help John with his research, to
mother him, to mother Annie, to help take care of Uncle, and to cook and to
clean. Both the character and Ms. Rivera spend a lot of time standing
around with no clear purpose. The twin sister, Jeanne, is supposed to be a
successful publicist who may have a more sympathetic side, but Dee Pelletier
has not found the authority with which to play her and we are not given a way
to see into the internal conflicts that cause her finally to become one of the
villains. Finally, there is too much haranguing about political positions
for the relationships to come to life, and the sketchy relationships cloud what
might be a straightforward agit-prop piece. The most exciting part of the
play was the terrible coda, set sometime in the future, or perhaps only in our
minds as a warning.
The
sets and lighting, by Gian Marco LoForte and Tony Giovannetti respectively,
create a lovely forest scene that suggests the escape we would all like to have
access to.
Theater
can be a powerful tool for activism and Ms. Malpede’s heart is in the right
place. There was even a talk-back with a climate activist after the
opening night show, to get the audience involved in practical activity.
This is admirable, but extreme
whether needs to be reshaped and focused so that it can have its
full effect.
Theater
Three Collaborative
extreme
whether
March
1st–18th, 2018
La
Mama
66
East 4th Street
New
York NY
$25,
/$20 students and seniors
212
352 3101; www.lamama.org