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Express Milwaukee
March 6 2013
Remembrance, Spirit and Faith
In Tandem's `Beast on the Moon'
By Harry Cherkinian
`There was - and there was not,' intones the elderly man in Armenian at
the start and end of Beast on the Moon, Richard Kalinoski's deeply
affecting play about two survivors of the Armenian Genocide, which
opened last weekend at In Tandem Theatre in a superb, heart-wrenching
production.
The Armenian Genocide was carefully plotted and carried out by the
Ottoman government, resulting in the massacre of 1.5 million Armenian
men, women and children between 1915 and 1917. The first holocaust of
the 20th century became an all-too-effective prototype for the Third
Reich's `Final Solution,' with Hitler himself extolling its `success.'
It is through the desperately searching voices of 19-year-old Aram and
his 15-year-old `mail order bride' Seta that the underlying
psychological horrors of witnessing such unspeakable atrocities come
full circle. Aram has a family portrait prominently displayed with all
the heads missing; Seta clings desperately to a rag doll made by her
massacred mother. Together, they try to forge a life in 1920s
Milwaukee. But the past is there always, haunting, lingering, looking
for and demanding a place and time to be heard.
`I am a dead person living too,' Seta cries out to Aram during the
stunning climax to this story of survival, hope and, ultimately,
spiritual redemption.
Beast had its Milwaukee premiere in 1995 and director Mary MacDonald
Kerr (who played Seta in that Milwaukee Chamber Theatre production)
has created a harrowing, deftly balanced production with three cast
members, all of whom excel, separately and together. Robert Spencer
plays a dual role of the elder man, Vincent, and his younger juvenile
self, the street orphan. It's a tricky business moving back and forth
in time and character but veteran actor Spencer pulls it off
beautifully. As the stiff, inflexible Aram, Michael Cotey brings a
three-dimensional richness to this boy/man who grows up all too fast,
talking tough while the pain burns deeply. And Grace DeWolff's Seta is
a tour de force performance. She completely transforms before our eyes
as the naïve teenage waif who helps the other characters come to terms
with, not just physical survival, but transcendence of pain and
suffering.
Beast on the Moon is a poignant, personal testament to those Armenians
who survived, as well as an important, timeless voice for all those
who perished, but still live on in remembrance, spirit and faith.
The production runs through March 24 at the Tenth Street Theatre, 628
N. 10th St. Student, senior, military and group discounts are
available. For more information, call 414-271-1371 or visit
intandemtheatre.org.
http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-permalink-20696.html
March 6 2013
Remembrance, Spirit and Faith
In Tandem's `Beast on the Moon'
By Harry Cherkinian
`There was - and there was not,' intones the elderly man in Armenian at
the start and end of Beast on the Moon, Richard Kalinoski's deeply
affecting play about two survivors of the Armenian Genocide, which
opened last weekend at In Tandem Theatre in a superb, heart-wrenching
production.
The Armenian Genocide was carefully plotted and carried out by the
Ottoman government, resulting in the massacre of 1.5 million Armenian
men, women and children between 1915 and 1917. The first holocaust of
the 20th century became an all-too-effective prototype for the Third
Reich's `Final Solution,' with Hitler himself extolling its `success.'
It is through the desperately searching voices of 19-year-old Aram and
his 15-year-old `mail order bride' Seta that the underlying
psychological horrors of witnessing such unspeakable atrocities come
full circle. Aram has a family portrait prominently displayed with all
the heads missing; Seta clings desperately to a rag doll made by her
massacred mother. Together, they try to forge a life in 1920s
Milwaukee. But the past is there always, haunting, lingering, looking
for and demanding a place and time to be heard.
`I am a dead person living too,' Seta cries out to Aram during the
stunning climax to this story of survival, hope and, ultimately,
spiritual redemption.
Beast had its Milwaukee premiere in 1995 and director Mary MacDonald
Kerr (who played Seta in that Milwaukee Chamber Theatre production)
has created a harrowing, deftly balanced production with three cast
members, all of whom excel, separately and together. Robert Spencer
plays a dual role of the elder man, Vincent, and his younger juvenile
self, the street orphan. It's a tricky business moving back and forth
in time and character but veteran actor Spencer pulls it off
beautifully. As the stiff, inflexible Aram, Michael Cotey brings a
three-dimensional richness to this boy/man who grows up all too fast,
talking tough while the pain burns deeply. And Grace DeWolff's Seta is
a tour de force performance. She completely transforms before our eyes
as the naïve teenage waif who helps the other characters come to terms
with, not just physical survival, but transcendence of pain and
suffering.
Beast on the Moon is a poignant, personal testament to those Armenians
who survived, as well as an important, timeless voice for all those
who perished, but still live on in remembrance, spirit and faith.
The production runs through March 24 at the Tenth Street Theatre, 628
N. 10th St. Student, senior, military and group discounts are
available. For more information, call 414-271-1371 or visit
intandemtheatre.org.
http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-permalink-20696.html