Theatre: Tuned to a Dead Channel

Selling Kabul by Sylvia Khoury, Directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton, Seattle Rep through 22 May

This one is rough. It is a challenge. It was also the best production of the year so far. 

Part of the challenge is subject matter - a play about Afghanistan so soon after the recent departure of US military support, the collapse of its government, and return of the Taliban. And part of it because of the characters themselves, all of whom are confronted with the ever-increasing danger resulting from the lies they tell to protect each other. You empathise with them and and internalize their peril.

Taroon (Yousof Sultani) has been hiding in the apartment of his sister Afiya (Susaan Jamshidi) and her husband Jawid (Barzin Akhavan) for four months now. Taroon worked for the Americans and is hiding from the rising Taliban. Jawid is making uniforms for the Taliban in exchange for their protection. Afiya is trying to hold everything together, including keeping Taroon's presence hidden from the outside world, which is embodied by friendly/nosy neighbor Leyla (Fatima Wardak). At the start of the play, Taroon's wife has given birth to their son in the hospital, and Taroon is willing to risk everything to see them. However, the Taliban has people at the hospital looking for him. Afiya want to keep her brother alive.

And from there is just gets worse for everyone involved. It is a slow burn as the truth regarding the devastation from the authoritarians is revealed, and as the knowledge of the danger to the major characters is slowly leaked out. The risks ratchet up, the potential dangers increase, and the collateral damage is high. 

The actors are excellent. Most of them are "making their Seattle Rep debut" with the exception of Wardak, who had been in A Thousand Splendid Suns from the Rep a few years ago (and which is being apparently being turned into an opera). They embody their characters and their secrets with grace and humanity. Jamshidi as Afiya is the heart of the play, as she struggles to work out the most survivable results in an ever-darkening landscape. The set is no-nonsense, will none of the flying props or multiple levels we've seen in other Rep productions. And the directing is subtle, direct and well-placed. As I said, it is a slow burn.

This is a bleak play. Much bleaker than Ghosts, and much, much more immediate. There are fewer laughs at these characters, less distance between us and them. The performance is gifted with excellent actors, a tight script, and spot-on direction. I really, really don't want to take it apart and analyze why it works right now because it really connected and affected me. So yeah, with all the caveats that this is not a musical, not a blast from the past, not a retelling of another better known play, but is really solid, good theater. Just don't expect to feel good about it afterwards.

More later,

Play: One Tough Mother

Mother Courage and her Children by Bertolt Brecht, Translated by David Hare, Directed by Jeff Steitzer. Seattle Shakespeare Company, through 22 November.

Another one to put in the "Too Late for a Review to Matter" file,which is a pity, since this is worth showing up for.

Spoilers abound, but seriously, this is Mother Courage. If you don't know about it, you really should get thee to a wiki. Written (according to legend) by Brecht in the white-hot heat of Hitler's invasion of Poland and the resulting "Sitzkrieg" when nothing much happened despite war being declared, Brecht was taking on attitudes towards patriotism and war at the very time that his country's leadership was rallying the people for another four years of pain, loss, and agony. Very much speaking truth, or at least irony, to power.

The aforementioned mother (Jeanne Paulsen) is an independent operator in war-torn Europe (the Thirty-Years war, to be exact, in the 1600s). She is a canteen operator following the big armies, selling brandy and lootables to the troops. It is a religious war, but Mother Courage is all about the guilders. The only thing she cares about more than her wagon and her supplies are her children Eilif (Trick Dannecker), Swiss Cheese (Spencer Hamp), and the mute Kattrin (A brilliant Chesa Greene). She tries to benefit from the money sloshing around in the wake of the armies, but wants to protect her children from it. But one by one, she loses them to the very master she serves, leaving her to pull her wagon alone.

The humor is supposed to be black to the point of ultraviolet, and Mother is not supposed to be a sympathetic character. Brecht apparently went back after the debut to make her less vulnerable and likable - he was after what he called epic theater - unlikable protagonists, multiple roles to actors, characters breaking out into song, episodic as opposed to continual flow of action, minimal sets, emotional distance. A lot of which has been picked up over the course of the years by the rest of theater so "epic theater" starts feeling like, well, "theater".

But it is hard not to find sympathy with Mother Courage - all she wants to do is protect her family. The fact that she is endangering them by dragging them into a war zone in the first place is lost on her. And that's the tragedy of the pragmatic Ms. Courage - she thinks she has it all figured out, when in reality she is one more pawn on an ever-growing chessboard.

Jeanne Paulsen is a great strong-willed family mandarin, but even her performance encourages us to root for Courage even as her family is peeled away, opportunities are missed, and blind patriotism presents its butcher's bill. Her voice is strong, but overpowered by the music sometimes (though the entire company is much, much better than the alien landscape of the Mr. Burns play). The audio guys really should be sitting in all the seats to set their levels, and support the actors as opposed to fighting with them. Chesa Greene just disappears into here role as Kattrin. Alyssa Keene as the camp follower Yvette was good and could have gone broader. Similarly Larry Paulsen and R. Hamilton Wright as the two men in Courage's life were great but as well could have gone more comic as well.

And perhaps part of this is what I should be expecting from Brecht. When I hear about political theater, I sorta expect issues to overwhelm subtlety of character, and indeed, the characters have a lot to say about war, even if as characters they either benefit from it or don't show enough sense to get out of the way of it. But I see a lot of humanizing as well, and I think that fights with the original intent.

So, Mother Courage, yes, go see it, in whatever form and upon whichever stage it turns up next. It is not a happy play, but it is epic in every sense of the word.

More later,

Veteran's Day

I was going to repost "On Flanders Field", as is my wont, but I am feeling more hopeful with the process and discussions regarding the men and women who, at home and overseas, seek to protect us.

So instead, I provide the link about Kobold Quarterly's Adopt-a-Soldier promotion.

Small but Fierce, indeed.

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Eight Years Ago

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Anthrax

In the wake of the fall of the towers in 2001, there was another crisis, one that has surprisingly since faded from view, drifting off like weaponized dust over a battlefield. And that was the anthrax attack.

Here's the History Channel version - In the weeks following 9/11, packages of white powder showed up at media outlets as well as the offices of Democratic congressmen. Letters attached claimed islamic origin and identified the powder as anthrax, and in the ensuing weeks, five people died of anthrax, and 17 more were infected. A media outlet tied the anthrax to Iraq, and the incident became part of the drumbeat to war.

And then things quietly faded from view. Whiled everyone was shucking off their shoes at the airport, things seemed unchanged in the mail system. There would be an occasional mention among the other news, small notes in the back of the paper that the anthrax didn't look like it came from overseas. That it was domestic. That it came from the same place that was helping in the investigation, Fort Detrick. That they had a suspect. That the suspect was no longer a suspect and was suing. That they had a new suspect.

And now the new suspect has committed suicide. And that the coverage is now along the lines of "Well, I guess that wraps THAT up." (Actually, the headline in the Seattle Times was "Will Suicide Close Case on Anthrax?", to which the P-I answers: ""After Suicide, Feds Consider Closing Anthrax Case").

And of course it wraps up nothing. We don't know exactly the evidence (it is under grand jury). We don't know the motivations, though the general guess seems to be that the suspect wanted people to pay attention to potential bioterrorism by engaging in it. I'm seeing a lot of reports of the suspect's instability, but a lot of that evidence comes from SINCE the attacks, when he increasingly became a suspect.

And what's all this bit with ABC News rushing in with the Iraq link, then fighting any attempt to change it? And the various media and government types that were already popping Cipro (an effective anti-Antrhax agent) before the attacks began?

It is odd that there are heavy 9/11 conspiracy theories that want to tie in our government into the attacks (under the idea of qui bono - who benefits), challenging every fact and tossing every assumption under the microscope. Yet on a domestic attack, a Tylenol fright made more major, with a path leading back to our own doorstep, there is little or nothing to be said from either the outside or the inside. Or how we're going to keep it from happening again.

Move along citizen, nothing to see here.

More later,

Time to Go

So among the many (many) things that the current administration has said about Iraq was that when they asked us to leave, we'd leave.

Well, they have. Now what?

More later,

Update: We change the subject: "OMG! Iran haz teh Missiles! Everybody Panic!"

Update Update:The cool picture of missiles being launched? Photoshopped. Hope their missile program is better organized.

4000

Moment of silence for the fallen.

Sign of the Apocalypse?

So last week, driving back from the International District under the tale end of the lunar eclipse, the Lovely Bride and I passed this sign (or rather, one similar to it):

(ganked from the Stranger, by the way)

The sign reads "When you cast your vote, remember September 11, 2001 - Paid for by Concerned Citizens for a Better America".

And this was weird, seeing such a strange, intensely political billboard pop up in that part of Seattle, with months to go BEFORE November. It was as if Red State Sam had pulled himself loose of his flood-stained Chehalis field and strode north, intent on blowing his FEMA check on releasing his venom to a broader market.

And indeed, I WILL be thinking about Sept 11 when I cast my vote. I will be thinking about how miserable and flailing our reaction has been to it, how we did little to those directly involved while using it as a cudgel to inflict damage on people living in this country, how the families of the victims are still waiting for some sense of closure, and how, after seven years, we still haven't caught the guy who ordered up the attack (Seriously, I saw the comment today - "It will take Obama to get Osama" - and it may be true).

So it's a god-awful weird billboard. And its supposed sponsors, these "Concerned Citizens for a Better America" are vapor-ware, showing up only on the net from people writing about the weird billboards (Which apparently now are spreading). The name of the CCBA sounds like something out a comic book, where you check the org chart and discover the CEO is COBRA Commander.

There could be a number of reasons for these latest blots on the landscape:

1) It is exactly what it looks like - some right-wing group decided to blow the money they would normally spend on public-access TV to take its message to a new audience. If so, why choose Seattle, where the politics shifts to the left and ability to mock is widespread?

2) It is an agent provocateur move, where you put up the boards, see them mocked, legislated against, or best of all, vandalized, and use the event to blacken the "durn librals" who don't really believe in free speech and hate the troops (the right loves the troops - its soldiers that they apparently can't stand).

3) It's an agent provocateur move from the left, seeking the galvanize the rest of the world by reminding us that the right is a bunch of incompetent yahoos. Indeed, if the message was against a Democrat dark blue as opposed to GOP Severe Threat Red, it could be easily interpreted as being from left of center, reminding us of the gross incompetence and venality of the current administration (if that's the case - um, Mission Accomplished!)

4) It's an art stunt. Wouldn't be the first. Back before 2001 turned toxic on us, a guerrilla art group set down a black monolith on Kite Hill. It is just seeking to provoke a response. Maybe sales for ad space are low enough they could afford it (by the way, the boards are Clear Channel, which is known for its own righty agenda, so I don't think so).

5) It is viral marketing. Charge a bunch of people up, then release a new movie or TV show or maybe radio. I'm thinking the last, if anything - Clear Channel is also big in radio, and in particular radio talk. If this is the case, they are playing with fire, but it can pay off.

I'm actually hoping for 5, though 1 seems to be the most sadly logical. If some righty group wants to shoot itself in the foot, be my guest. If nothing else it shows that sometimes it makes sense to get a real marketing guy on the staff before you release the campaign.

More later,

11-11-11

Eleventh Hour
Eleventh Day
Eleventh Year



In Flanders Fields

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

More later,

Running Numbers

So today the start of the NFL Season, we stand on the edge of an orgy of numbers: so many completions, so many sacks, so much rushing yardage on various surfaces, so much kicking yardage against the wind in a snowstorm. A wonk's heaven of numbers.

Which made me think of another number - the number of combat casualties we've had in Iraq so far.

Its a fairly large number And once you get into fairly-large numbers, thing start to blur around the edges. What does this fairly-large number mean? Well, I think I can put it terms I can wrap my brain around. When you think of the losses in Iraq, here's a handy comparison.

Wipe out the NFL.

OK, OK, don't WIPE OUT the NFL, to the tune of that bad blimp-vs-stadium movie Black Sunday. Let us not be gross. Just - there is no NFL. Nothing on Sunday afternoon. No Seahawks, Steelers, Eagles, Bears, Packers. Hasselbeck and Favre are off duck hunting. Every player has chores to do, somewhere better to be.

There is no NFL in 2007. Got that in your mind?

OK, so that is 32 teams, each with an official roster of 55, or 1760 people who are not showing up for work this weekend. And that doesn't get us halfway there.

So there is no NFL in 2008 either.

And the NFC West? No games in 2009 for you.

That's how we can balance out the 3760 US deaths in Iraq so far. Its not a judgment. It's just a number. A number that you might be able to wrap your head around.

And civilian casualties? Well, the Pentagon doesn't keep track (well, they do, but they aren't going to tell you), but the lowest guess, just based on what has been reported over the past few years, would fill every seat in Qwest Field with corpses, and have a pretty packed zombie tailgate party going in the parking lot. The reality of the situation may demand additional stadiums, and we're back in the realm of very-large-numbers.

So just keep these comparisons in your mind as they pan the stadium between commercials, and have a fun football season!

More later.

Memorial Day

From the Arlington West project in Santa Monica.

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Let Me Deliver the Punchline

A lot of people are pointing out that candidate McCain stated that it's safe to walk through Baghdad, then proved it by walking through Baghdad. Wearing a bullet-proof vest. With a hundred armed soldiers and five choppers backing him up.

Of course, McCain had just gotten Verizon, and thought those other guys were his Network.

I was just waiting for some member of Al-Quaeda to come up to him and ask him about his reception, because outside the Green Zone, I'm telling you, it's a crapshoot.

Just wanted to get that joke in before it shows up on Leno and Letterman tonight.

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Four Years

I tried to find something humorous to say about this, but I don't have it in me at the moment. It seems like the big reason that we're at war is that, well, we're at war, and it starts and ends there.

I'll have something snarky to say later, though. It is not like the Gummit hasn't been busy making other mistakes in the last four years.

More later.

Random Notes from the National Desk

Sometimes things just happen too fast to make serious fun of:

On Monday, there was a news blip about how the third-in-line to the throne of England was preparing for deployment in his Grandma's Army. And on a Tuesday we have the sudden announcement that the British Army has won the war (their part of it, anyway) and is going to go home.

It turns out that a big Terrorist Financier is also a big GOP donor. The fact that the NRCC is recommending withholding judgment should be a note to all other Terrorist Financiers - give to the Republicans and we won't forget about due process when you get caught. I swear, every time I think the modern GOP has hit bottom (Outing a CIA Agent, Supporting a sexual predator congressman, shooting an elderly man in the face), it punches through the floor and drops another hundred feet. What's left? Selling indulgences?

Of course, the scandal the Republicans are desperately trying to get traction on is the fact that the Speaker of the House gets a (Homeland-Security mandated) plane. By this point in the non-scandal, all they have left is that the Speaker's plane is larger than the previous Speaker's plane. Yep, let me say it again: The pale males at the GOP and FOX have plane envy.

And speaking of humor, last week a member of the NBA said something stupid about gay Americans. Hey, we don't pay these guys way too much money for their brains. Now while superstar Charles Barkley is kissing refs on the lips to show support for the gay community, George Takei unleashes this video, which not only makes Jimmy Kimmel's latenight show relevant, but puts Sulu up there with Shatner in establishing a new career in taking shots at his own image.

I swear, this is why I'll never write comedy. I just can't keep up with reality.

More later,

Have you noticed?

That the same clowns who were supporting the administration's war two years ago because it was the will of the people now are supporting the war because they are "independent thinkers" who will not be pushed around by the will of the people?

Just asking,