PROJECT C: IS THIS A DREAM?
nytheatre.com review by Leslie Bramm
August 15, 2002
If a person can control a dream as if
it were reality, making the dream just as real, then could reality be a
controlled dream? A waking, walking dream? If that's the case would we
be able to tell the difference between each state, if each state were
just itself flipped inside out? Does everything in our reality, dream or
not, have to have an origin that is explainable? Indeed, some things
"Just are".Nothing in Project C: Is This a Dream? is necessarily real. Even the audience was there and not there at the same time. A young couple, pretending to be Mexicans (but really not) wants to take us on a journey through a dreamscape. Or do they? Could this journey through dreams just be another dream? This ambitious 40-minute experiment was wrought at P.S. 122 in November of 2001. The energy and high level of angst in the play made me wonder if it was a response to the events of that previous September. This is just my interpretation. The piece made no attempt to answer any questions or reach any conclusions. Let alone a catharsis. That is where it became frustrating.
Some would ask; "Does theatre always need to be political? To make social, moral, or emotional statements?" There are many schools of thought on this. I will now endeavor to answer the question once and for all..."Yes", always. Always, always, always! Otherwise it’s pointless, intellectual masturbation. Perhaps younger theatre artists haven't connected with this concept yet, this need for meaning. Those of us oh, so close to forty understand this need and would gladly sacrifice some of our fifteen minutes, for five minutes of the truth.
Lest you think I didn't enjoy parts of the piece: Matthew Kinney and Michelle Ries give energetic and committed performances. The direction by Travis Chamberlain gets the job done. He is also credited as a co-creator. The strength of the piece lies in its brevity. Go check it out. Maybe it's me and I just didn't get it. While confounding some, Project C: Is this a Dream? will be sure to engage many others.
