The “Edward Grue” vignette in Famous Puppet Death Scenes. Photo: Jason Stang
You don’t have to be a Scrooge to dislike an overly sappy Christmas (cough, Love Actually, cough) movie or play. You’ve now had ample time to get your fill of Nutcrackers and Christmas Carols (and, you know, I guess The Fiddler on the Roof if you’re celebrating Hanukkah?) Two area plays are a bit darker and funnier than your standard holiday season fare; they’re also two of the best shows currently playing.
Famous Puppet Death Scenes @ Woolly Mammoth Theatre
A dead puppet. Photo: Jason Stang
First, a clarification, at the serious risk of ruining a joke by explaining it: Famous Puppet Death Scenes is about neither famous theater death scenes as enacted by puppets (Romeo and Juliet marionettes, perhaps?) nor about well-known puppet death scenes (Yoda?). The “famous” bit in the title is actually an invitation, via Alberta, Canada’s Old Trout Puppet Workshop, to imagine a world that differs from our own only in having a storied, well-studied and widely-renowned history of puppet theater— a world where the hour or so of madcap puppet mayhem that unfolds on and around Woolly’s main stage is simply a highlight reel of the funniest or zaniest or most-touching meditations on death that have previously appeared in the world of puppet theater. This slightly-alternate reality that the Trouts offer a glimpse of is captivating enough to suggest that we might be living in the lesser reality, one tragically lacking in full versions of the plays we catch a glimpse of in the show.
All this, of course, risks being a serious over-explanation of a joke that by design is never addressed directly on stage. And perhaps this is an over-analysis of any form of theater whose most well-known example in our world is a Punch and Judy show. Especially since what plays on the surface is quite accessible and of equal potential enjoyment for children and adults (note, however, the warning of occasional puppet nudity and cartoon violence). An elderly puppet named Nathaniel Tweak is the tragic narrator and guide of the show, which is a meditation on every aspect of death, from straight slapstick comedy (the rip-roaring Itchy and Scratchy-esque scene from “Das Bipsy und Mumu Puppenspiel” that opens the show) to heartbreaking realizations of loss (the emotional last few scenes, especially) and everything in between.
The meta joke that ties all the shows together is that most of the audience won’t be well-versed enough in puppet theater to tell if the ensuing madcap puppet mayhem is pulled from actual theater or not. Those not “in” on the joke might find themselves scratching their heads during, say, a scene purportedly pulled from a 14-plus-hour show in the form of the non-existent “Theatre of the Insufferable,” where, at hour 14, a motionless puppet peers out at the audience while a cold wind blows through a broken window. The joke— or tragedy, depending on how you want to look at it— is that theater in general has a pretentious enough reputation that the existence of such a show seems depressingly plausible.
The puppeteers who bring all these creations to life (and, of course, death) are three men: Nicholas Di Gaetano, Pityu Kenderes, and Viktor Lukawski. Their effort in and around the beautiful mini-stage and cabinets that wheel about often feels like the work of at least a dozen men. What the Trouts ultimately manage to bring to the stage is admittedly a grab bag, and not every scene plays to wide appeal. But whether or not the inside-joke zingers are picked up on, the overall experience delivered by the show is a rare blend of tragedy and (mostly!) comedy the likes of which isn’t often seen on stage. It’s one of the best shows to hit D.C. all year, and wouldn’t you know it? It’s all about puppets.
Famous Puppet Death Scenes plays through January 4 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre. Tickets, $20-78, are available here.
Nanna Ingvarsson, Dylan Myers, Katie Ryan. Photo: Igor Dmitry.Terminus @ Studio Theatre 2ndStage
Studio Theatre’s 2ndStage is playing host to another show that flirts with death, comedy, and absurdism, though it unfolds in a world that is much, much darker than the puppet show across town. Director Tom Story’s take on Irish playwright Mark O’Rowe’s Terminus comes with necessary trigger warnings posted prominently in the lobby, warning of graphic descriptions of rape, violence, and gore. And yet the three actors that populate the sparse, littered stage remain almost entirely rooted in place for the full run of the show. The shocking and gripping story that unfolds over the course of a little under two hours, sans-intermission, is in fact delivered entirely in rhyming monologue.
That’s not to say that this is show is an exhausting example of, well, that non-existent “Theatre of the Insufferable.” These warnings are simply of the sort meant to advise those who might pick up a DVD of Trainspotting as a present for an elderly relative with a penchant for railroads. For those who know what they’re getting into (if you can handle Chuck Palahniuk’s “Guts”, you can handle this) there’s a thrilling and captivating story to be told.
The stories start innocently enough: An unnamed character A (Nanna Ingvarsson) begins by relating a rough and harshly realistic story that feels like it might be pulled from the same gritty and violent universe as True Detective. She’s a crisis line volunteer who recognizes a voice on the receiver and tasks herself with saving the poor soul from a violent back alley abortion. Character B, given voice by Katie Ryan, tells a story that begins in a similarly realistic vein but takes a sudden and absurd turn once she’s lured to the top of a construction crane by her “friends.” And at the exact moment that her story takes a drastic and dark turn, Character C (Dylan Myers) takes off with a bang, leaving our world of relative safety and logic behind and quickly delving into a sheerly horrific story that soon drags the other two characters into similarly dark, almost Lovecraftian depths.
The rhyming lyricism that these monologues are delivered in is hard to ignore at first, especially since the rhymes all but require an Irish accent to work (an accent that I believe has been toned down a fair bit for this production, as here “fast” and “coupe-de-grace,” for example, are meant to rhyme but don’t quite). That would pose a substantial problem for a show where all of the action and drama occurs in your head, with only the barest of visual aids via gesture from the actors. But the words are easy to grow accustomed to, especially as the story races right along, tension building all the while.
Terminus is by no means a play for everyone, and while there’s plenty on display that is funny, touching, even endearing, the violence that must be endured isn’t quite what most people are looking for around the holidays. Of course, it isn’t a holiday play at all, though Deborah Thomas’ set (including a ladder wrapped in red Christmas lights) and Brandee Mathies’ costumes (all in dull colors save for a sprig of lively red for each character) seem to wink knowingly at that possibility. Terminus might be positioning itself, then, as a dark, bitter, but fitting chaser for anyone who finds their cup overflowing with holiday cheer this season.
Terminus plays through January 4 at Studio’s 2ndStage. Tickets are available here.
