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Breakfast of Champions
A snort with your coffee, Scotch for lunch, and other
Bogosian obsessions at the Sol Theatre
Miami New Times
February 24, 2005
BY RONALD MANGRAVITE ([email protected])
To many, modern art is all about provocation. That was the case with
gonzo journalist and novelist Hunter S. Thompson, whose booze- and
drug-fueled rants were the stuff of popular legend for decades before
he committed suicide last week. Trailing along in Thompson's wake is
Eric Bogosian, a theatrical provocateur who, for more than twenty
years, has been writing and performing such solo shows as Talk Radio,
Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, and the recent Wake Up and Smell the Coffee.
A Bogosian show usually presents a rogue's gallery of marginal
characters in a string of raucous monologues that critique American
society. One of Bogosian's early pieces, Drinking in America, is now
in revival at the Sol Theatre Project in Fort Lauderdale. This rant
and rave from the Eighties, which focuses on the addictions and
obsessions of Americans across many social strata, is still funny and
acerbic, but its social observations have lost much of their sting
over the years. As a result, Drinking is now more an exercise in sound
and fury than substance.
Some of the text seems more than a little trite. In one skit, a wired
movie producer in Hollywood keeps putting a caller on hold while he
snorts lines of cocaine for breakfast. In another, a hopped-up
panhandler uses praise and flattery to cajole an audience member to
cough up some money. In still another, a smug, scotch-drinking
professional ticks off the little successes in his life with a
disquieting urgency that suggests all is not well beneath. The
underlying idea, that Americans of all walks of life medicate their
underlying dis-ease, implies an overarching social critique. But
instead of offering some connective argument, Bogosian falls back on
vague references to capitalism and spiritual poverty. The idea,
apparently, is that the audience must connect these scattered dots of
message into some cohesive pattern; despite Bogosian's gifts with
language and characterization, though, the basis of the idea is
muddled and ill-considered.
If Drinking is more a talent showcase than substantive theater, at
least the talent is engaging. The Sol production takes this solo show
and divides it between two actors, a decision that helps add some
welcome variety. Jim Gibbons and Jim Sweet, who made a fine pair of
tramps in the Sol's solid production of Waiting for Godot last season,
again bring their gonzo goofball sensibilities to this tag-team
event. Gibbons has a sly, world-weary style and serves a string of
nicely etched cameos. He starts off smartly as a street drunk who
conjures a detailed reverie of luxury, limos, and lovely ladies. He's
also terrific as a lonely traveling salesman chatting with a hooker in
a hotel room, and a persuasive preacher whose critique of societal
collapse turns into an exhortation to righteous violence. He's
balanced by the harder-edged, tightly wound Sweet, who's hilarious in
a wild tale of a New Yorker's booze- and Quaalude-fueled road trip
that ends in disaster. He also scores as an immigrant restaurateur
who's obsessed with work. But Sweet, who co-directed the production
with Robert Hooker, often comes across as more calculated than
Gibbons, who provides more character details. All three are credited
with the ominous, bleak set design, a looming, gray stone wall that
suggests both an urban street and a subterranean cavern.
While this production has merit, it's not nearly as satisfying as many
past Sol projects, and the question arises as to why Hooker and
company opted for this particular script. In a season in which several
theaters seem to be serving decidedly so-so material, it's fair to ask
what is in store for the Sol troupe and, by extension, South Florida
theaters in general. Over the past several years, a number of new
companies, the Sol included, have moved from mere survival to a
measure of stability. But many of these companies are focused on the
same type of theater, so-called "edgy, contemporary plays," the
availability of which is in increasingly short supply. At some point
the Sol and other local companies may be forced to expand the scope of
their dramatic sources beyond recent New York hits, making room for
commissioned scripts on specific topics, reinvented classic texts, or
translations of contemporary plays from other countries. This
evolution may well be painful, but is most likely necessary, as the
crowded South Florida theater scene keeps maturing.
**********************
"Drinking in America"
Written by Eric Bogosian.
Directed by Jim Sweet and Robert Hooker.
With Jim Gibbons and Jim Sweet.
Presented through March 13, 2005.
954-525-6555, or www.soltheatre.com.
Where: Sol Theatre Project
1140 NE Flagler Dr., Fort Lauderdale.
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/issues/2005-02-24/culture/stage.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
A snort with your coffee, Scotch for lunch, and other
Bogosian obsessions at the Sol Theatre
Miami New Times
February 24, 2005
BY RONALD MANGRAVITE ([email protected])
To many, modern art is all about provocation. That was the case with
gonzo journalist and novelist Hunter S. Thompson, whose booze- and
drug-fueled rants were the stuff of popular legend for decades before
he committed suicide last week. Trailing along in Thompson's wake is
Eric Bogosian, a theatrical provocateur who, for more than twenty
years, has been writing and performing such solo shows as Talk Radio,
Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, and the recent Wake Up and Smell the Coffee.
A Bogosian show usually presents a rogue's gallery of marginal
characters in a string of raucous monologues that critique American
society. One of Bogosian's early pieces, Drinking in America, is now
in revival at the Sol Theatre Project in Fort Lauderdale. This rant
and rave from the Eighties, which focuses on the addictions and
obsessions of Americans across many social strata, is still funny and
acerbic, but its social observations have lost much of their sting
over the years. As a result, Drinking is now more an exercise in sound
and fury than substance.
Some of the text seems more than a little trite. In one skit, a wired
movie producer in Hollywood keeps putting a caller on hold while he
snorts lines of cocaine for breakfast. In another, a hopped-up
panhandler uses praise and flattery to cajole an audience member to
cough up some money. In still another, a smug, scotch-drinking
professional ticks off the little successes in his life with a
disquieting urgency that suggests all is not well beneath. The
underlying idea, that Americans of all walks of life medicate their
underlying dis-ease, implies an overarching social critique. But
instead of offering some connective argument, Bogosian falls back on
vague references to capitalism and spiritual poverty. The idea,
apparently, is that the audience must connect these scattered dots of
message into some cohesive pattern; despite Bogosian's gifts with
language and characterization, though, the basis of the idea is
muddled and ill-considered.
If Drinking is more a talent showcase than substantive theater, at
least the talent is engaging. The Sol production takes this solo show
and divides it between two actors, a decision that helps add some
welcome variety. Jim Gibbons and Jim Sweet, who made a fine pair of
tramps in the Sol's solid production of Waiting for Godot last season,
again bring their gonzo goofball sensibilities to this tag-team
event. Gibbons has a sly, world-weary style and serves a string of
nicely etched cameos. He starts off smartly as a street drunk who
conjures a detailed reverie of luxury, limos, and lovely ladies. He's
also terrific as a lonely traveling salesman chatting with a hooker in
a hotel room, and a persuasive preacher whose critique of societal
collapse turns into an exhortation to righteous violence. He's
balanced by the harder-edged, tightly wound Sweet, who's hilarious in
a wild tale of a New Yorker's booze- and Quaalude-fueled road trip
that ends in disaster. He also scores as an immigrant restaurateur
who's obsessed with work. But Sweet, who co-directed the production
with Robert Hooker, often comes across as more calculated than
Gibbons, who provides more character details. All three are credited
with the ominous, bleak set design, a looming, gray stone wall that
suggests both an urban street and a subterranean cavern.
While this production has merit, it's not nearly as satisfying as many
past Sol projects, and the question arises as to why Hooker and
company opted for this particular script. In a season in which several
theaters seem to be serving decidedly so-so material, it's fair to ask
what is in store for the Sol troupe and, by extension, South Florida
theaters in general. Over the past several years, a number of new
companies, the Sol included, have moved from mere survival to a
measure of stability. But many of these companies are focused on the
same type of theater, so-called "edgy, contemporary plays," the
availability of which is in increasingly short supply. At some point
the Sol and other local companies may be forced to expand the scope of
their dramatic sources beyond recent New York hits, making room for
commissioned scripts on specific topics, reinvented classic texts, or
translations of contemporary plays from other countries. This
evolution may well be painful, but is most likely necessary, as the
crowded South Florida theater scene keeps maturing.
**********************
"Drinking in America"
Written by Eric Bogosian.
Directed by Jim Sweet and Robert Hooker.
With Jim Gibbons and Jim Sweet.
Presented through March 13, 2005.
954-525-6555, or www.soltheatre.com.
Where: Sol Theatre Project
1140 NE Flagler Dr., Fort Lauderdale.
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/issues/2005-02-24/culture/stage.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress