Dirty Beasts: rough plays in early development
In a moving, unconventional festival, Parley presents seven short plays, seven renditions of life’s most momentous and most mundane moments. Written by Katherine Jett, Dustin Hageland, drew david combs, n8 Heneghan, Carolynne Wilcox, Asha Dore and Carol Y. Lee, each of these new works tackles an unsurmountable beast, from mental health illnesses and identity crises to generational trauma and childhood memories. A good combination of complex themes and humor, I was at points captivated by the raw monologue of a character with schizophrenia and at others brought to laughter by a religious chicken’s musical performance.
While the seating arrangements left more to be desired, it was still an inventive setup by director Rebecca Tourino Collinsworth, given the space. With the seating placed in the middle – musical chairs style –, each production took place in a different corner of the room, allowing for a more dynamic experience and easier prop handling and ensuring each audience member got a good view of at least half of the plays. It did require the audience to move around a lot which, in addition to an undistinguished audio and video system, made it hard to stay immersed in the stories. Fortunately, the actors did a stellar job setting the mood and carrying the brunt of each scene. Even the actors who played disembodied voices were key in creating a believable experience, at points achieving the effect of dual voices inside one’s head, unharmoniously fighting for dominance.
Of course, let’s not forget that these are all works in progress. Surely, once these productions are finished and presented in their own space, more resources will be available to help straighten any flaws and to help support the actors in setting the scene. Overall, it was very enjoyable to have seen the bones of what will become bigger productions and get a little peek into the process of birthing them. Moreso, it was a particularly good combination of plays to see back-to-back, with their unique themes standing in contrast and complimenting one another. The real test will be to see if each of them can stand by themselves. From what I saw, most of them can.
Dirty Beasts, seven short plays by Katherine Jett, Dustin Hageland, drew david combs, n8 Heneghan, Carolynne Wilcox, Asha Dore and Carol Y. Lee. Starring Katherine Jett, Denny Le, drew david combs, Carol Y. Lee, Isis King, Fernando Cavallo, Viviana Garza and Ana Maria Campoy.