Darwinii
Overview
Went over to CPT last night and saw Darwinii: The Comeuppance of Man. Tony Brown, several years back, described it as “mesmerizing” and it was indeed that. It started off a bit slowly and I was thinking, “oh, shit…I’m going to have to watch a guy walk back and forth on a strip of red carpet for an hour-and-a-half;” however, once the ball started rolling…
Darwinii
About the play
The play is an apology, of sorts, by Cristobal (Brett Keyser), a man who claims to be the great, great, great… grandson of Charles Robert Darwin. Using ideas about inheritance and genetics and history and sheer comedy Cristobal makes a splendid case as to why this is the truth. In some ways, the play reminded me of Thom Pain: Based on Nothing by Will Eno, which I saw at Dobama some years back, but Darwinii is far less aggressive and confrontational–and far more funny. Keyser keeps the play chugging a long by using varied techniques that are delightful: he comes out in an orange jump suit with his hands cuffed behind he back (he escapes them), he wears Argentinean clothing under his orange jump suit and wields a few hidden knives to demonstrate his prowess, he has imagined conversations with people, he engages in a battle during the Falklands, he sells tchotchkes related to Darwin, plays a book on tape with a woman whose voice leads him on a quest of love, steals rare books from a host of repositories, etc. The play becomes simply a marvelous tale that is not only well-written and reflexive, but well-told and both amazing and delightful to behold.
The play was commissioned in 2009 by the American Philosophical Society Museum, and worth every penny the put into it.
Later that same evening…
Afterward I went to XYZ to have a beer and read some of my screenplay book where I bumped into Celeste Cosentino, Ian Hinz, and Katie Nabors so I got the chance to introduce myself to the Ensemble Theatre folks, which, coincidentally, I could have done on Saturday, had I simply stuck around long enough. Also saw Stuart Hoffman earlier at Darwinii who is having a reading done at Ensemble on the 28th (Cocopelli: a fairy tale for adults) which I hope very much to see. Also saw Mike Williams, who is wrapping up his MFA soon, he was just leaving Poor Little Lulu, which I hope to see next week. Convergence opens its season this weekend, too.
