NEO/RETRO/WOYZECK
nytheatre.com review by Jeffrey Cassaro
August 15, 2003
Growing up, my parents had friends
that we would go visit; they lived in Northville and had six kids. I
hated going there as their kids were rowdy, never had any toys, and
their home was always a bit confusing to me. The father, I remember, was
an odd, scary man. He would often talk to his kids in a language that I
never understood. I still remember him quipping something in his
gibberish to his pack, something funny that made me laugh, although I
didn’t know what he was saying.Anyway, my trip down to the Cherry Lane Theater this afternoon to see Seven Chances’ Neo/Retro/Woyzeck was kinda the same sort of experience. In sixty minutes (and they set an egg timer in the beginning to prove it), this group of very versatile and very talented actors present twenty plus scenes in the audience’s chosen order. Often using audience members (as oblivious to the story as I), they sing, dance, act, mime and even throw cream pies to execute the writings of an ill, hallucinating author (Georg Buchner, Woyzeck’s playwright). With a stage set of only twenty numbered balloons and a chair, Robert Franklin Neill’s portrayal of Woyzeck and his fellow players, including the very funny Tristan De Boer and Dara Seitzman, are all pinpoint perfect. Perhaps the highlight in this shiny little show is the rap number done by Danielle Quisenberry (BE SURE to yell out "number eighteen" when prompted). She, as well as the rest of the cast, is very good at pulling you onto the stage even if you opt not to get out of your seat to participate. It is an interactive adventure that I will not soon forget!
So after the show I called my Mom and laughed about something I otherwise would have forgotten from my childhood. As with my Northville experience, I may not have walked away enlightened but I sure left entertained!
