Jewish Theatre of Bloomington

Strange ‘Dream’ reflects coming reality

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By John Lyle Belden

I remember when The Year 2000 was used to reference the future. Now it’s history.

In movies and literature – ever since the play that gave us the word “robot” – we imagined living side by side with technology. Now it autonomously delivers our packages. We hold conversations with computers.

From this world of tomorrow swiftly becoming today comes “Your Name Means Dream,” by Josè Rivera, presented by Jewish Theatre Bloomington.

Aislin (Diane Kondrat) lives alone in New York’s East Village. Every conversation with her adult son results in an argument, so her grandkids no longer visit. Out of concern for her advancing age, declining health, and the fact she washes down her prescriptions with Jack Daniels, he has sent her a state-of-the-art assistant, Stacy (Valerie C. Kilmer), which looks like a young woman but is a synthetic robot body with an AI brain.

“I am beautiful and creepy.”

After a wild (for them) and funny (for us) start, Aislin gradually comes to accept the presence of this talking “toaster” that says it wants to help her live a fuller life, soon seeing “it” as “her.” Taking on those improvements, especially losing the bottle of Jack, is another matter.  

Under the careful direction of Martha Jacobs, both actors take characters that we would have issues with and make them strangely charming.

During a talkback afterward Kondrat said, smiling, that this may be the most F-bombs she’s ever had to utter in a single script. While consistently profane, Aislin is not always angry. She does express frustration at her life, her son, and the loss of her husband years ago, and herself, as well as her faux-human companion. However, moments of introspection slip through, as well as compassion at the prospect of actual loss. Those who are familiar with the addicted can see the contradictions of personality here. While her internal circuitry is biological, she is also subject to “glitching” in her own way.

Kilmer delivers an outstanding performance, never breaking character though as Stacy “learns” her movement becomes more fluid and she even picks up some of Aislin’s colorful language. With her perfect memory, we get a lot of callback references that work with the story. To be purely robotic, though not a trained dancer, Kilmer credits an acting class in which she was encouraged to practice isolating individual parts of her body, creating the notion that under-skin servos rather than smooth muscles control her movement. In preparing, she said she paid close to herself and considered how to remove the human element from each action or expression. This precision also shows in full-body character work as she mimics both the movement and voice of Aislin’s son when they communicate through Stacy’s phone app.

While there are some hilarious interactions, there is the underlying stress natural to a situation in which an AI-controlled machine that can bench-press hundreds of pounds and has no soul (the AOS [“Approximation of Soul”] upgrade comes in her next model, she says) is alone with a person with fragile body and mind. Aside from malfunction, there is a risk of hacking by the Skinjobs anti-robot organization.

Post-show discussion brought out various reactions to this engaging and thought-provoking play. While they address serious aspects of technology providing personal assistance for the elderly and differently abled, a process well under way in the off-stage world, there was also genuine affection for the comic interaction between the curmudgeon and the android. Some comments declared this a sort of 21st-century “Odd Couple.”

I personally saw the deeper questions posed by films such as “Blade Runner,” questions of identity and self, both among humans and those programed to emulate them. This was reflected in Stacy’s relating a sort of muscle-memory of a previous, very different, “life.” The policy of her maker, the tech corporation Singularity, is to completely eliminate its imprinted identity after use so that the unit can be refitted for whatever service the next customer wants. “I will not outlive you.”

Though Aislin is Irish-Croation and Catholic, and Stacy allegedly soulless, the board of Jewish Theatre of Bloomington felt this is an important work to bring to the public due to its examination of identity and humanity. As the human character puts it, “I contain multitudes, bitch!”

We are grateful for the opportunity to experience this.

Remaining performances are Saturday and Sunday, May 16-17, at the Waldron Rose Firebay theater, 122 S. Walnut St., Bloomington. They are technically sold out, but tickets might become available. Information at jewishtheatrebloomington.com.

Reckoning ‘The Price’ in Bloomington

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By John Lyle Belden

Playwright Arthur Miller is having a moment in Indiana this year. We recently had a production of “The Crucible” in Indy, and the show about the “Salesman” is opening in Westfield (watch for our take on that next week).

Meanwhile, the Jewish Theatre of Bloomington presents one of Miller’s lesser-produced plays, “The Price,” an emotionally gripping drama inspired in part by his own family.

How do you catalog a life, or even one that might have been? In 1968, Victor Franz (Jonathan Golembiecki), an NYPD Sargeant turning 50 and considering retirement – which would thrill his wife, Esther (Abby Lee) – is faced with needing to move or sell his late father’s belongings. The man had died years earlier, but these things were kept in an attic of a building about to be condemned. The items mostly date back to when the family lost their fortune in the 1929 Wall Street crash, left there largely ignored while the Franzes struggled through the Great Depression.

Victor and Esther are meeting with an appraiser, Gregory Solomon (Ken Farrell), to discuss a price to take the entire lot. There is some concern that Victor’s estranged brother Walter (Stephen Hunt), a very successful doctor and researcher, will show up to demand his half of the estate, but calls to him have gone unanswered. Naturally, he will be making an appearance midway through the play.

It’s that simple, and that complex.

“It’s impossible to know what’s important,” Victor says. While Solomon insists they concentrate on actual value over sentiment, it is difficult to price these decades-old artifacts – a harp, a gramophone, a fencing foil, a shiny evening gown or even the hardwood dresser it hangs in. Still, that which most needs to be settled is not financial. Walter’s success has come at its own dear price, and Victor is calling the debt.

One critique when this premiered on Broadway was that there was too much talking, but this drama has a lot to say. In the skilled hands of this cast, directed by Dale McFadden, we are fully engaged in this conversation, sparking with sibling tension while leavened with a bit of dry Jewish humor.

Golembiecki delivers an excellent performance of a man nearly paralyzed by uncertainty. His own life is at a decision point while dealing with the consequences of past changes. Coupled with the reintroduction of his brother, he is reminded of what could have been a different and perhaps better life. Instead he chose a life of service to others, and especially his father – was he a fool to do so?

Lee presents a woman growing impatient with her husband’s reluctance, desiring that things will finally break their way. Still underneath her tension is a fierce devotion, and love.

Hunt’s Walter keeps us off balance regarding the expectations we are given of his character. He appears to struggle with a recently found need to develop a sense of empathy, to reconcile his great success with one who sacrificed. His assertive ego only lets him change so much, if it is genuine at all.

Farrell is solid, giving perspective and humorous relief while floating lightly above Jews-and-money stereotypes. He demands respect while seeking not to offend so that in the end, everyone gets a deal they can walk away from.

A vital part of this production is the attic set, neatly surrounded by put-away furnishings and reminders of the past, brilliantly arranged by set designer Bobby Ayala Perez with prop masters Danielle Bruce and Nicole Bruce. Through this, the spirits of the Franz parents seem to haunt the surroundings.

While the laughter is mostly on a nearly-forgotten novelty record, there is a kind of enjoyment from seeing such a notable drama so well performed. Remaining performances are Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 15-16, in Rose Firebay in The Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut St., Bloomington.

Get info and tickets at jewishtheatrebloomington.com.

Jewish Theatre of Bloomington: Herzog play goes the distance

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By John Lyle Belden

How far would you go for a friend? For someone you love?

The Jewish Theatre of Bloomington presents “4000 Miles,” the 2013 Pulitzer finalist dramatic comedy by Amy Herzog.

Bill Simmons, who directed the Indiana premiere in 2012, is at the helm again. He said that the time that passed between these productions has given him better perspective on the main characters, 21-year-old Leo (Ryan Eller) and his 91-year-old grandmother Vera (Martha Jacobs, who was also in the 2012 Phoenix Theatre production).

Leo arrives unexpectedly around midnight at Vera’s New York apartment. He is excitable with hair-trigger moods, while she is patient and understanding, though a bit bewildered. He brings in his bicycle, having ridden not from his family’s home in St. Paul, Minn., but all the way from Seattle. He does not want his mother to know where he is.

Through 10 emotional scenes we learn what has brought Leo here, and the feelings and issues he must work through. This includes his relationship with Bec (Sofia Salgado), also in New York to attend college. One night, he brings home a young woman he just met, Amanda (Laura Rong), who resembles his adopted sister Lily (Rebecca Von Kirk). He has a lot to deal with, along with a sense that others believe he’s handling it all wrong. Meanwhile, Vera is dealing with her own feelings of things slipping away, including the passing of a dear friend in her “octogenarian club.”

The sharp script, excellent acting, and Simmons’ touch combine to make these strangers feel familiar, like people whose pain we don’t mind sharing. The generation gap and Vera’s feisty attitude generate a good amount of welcome laughs as a little absurdity finds its way into even the most serious situations. Beneath the problems is a genuine sense of feeling and connection, which leads to a hopeful outcome we can all feel as the play concludes.

Travel the much-shorter distance (from Indy) to experience “4000 Miles,” Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, May 15-17-18, at the Waldron Art Center Rose Firebay, 122 S. Walnut St. (ground floor off 4th Street), Bloomington. Get tickets and info at jewishtheatrebloomington.com.