REVIEW: UNDER 30
Posted by arts_reviews
Posted: January 11, 2008 - 4:16 pm
Allison Warden in Under 30
By MAIA NOLAN
Out North's "Under 30" opened Friday night, and while this year's theme is "Changes," one thing has stayed the same: The annual collection of performances is as quirky and original as "Under 30" fans have come to expect. This year's installment includes four pieces by local writers and performers; each, as the title suggests, is less than 30 minutes long.
The evening opens with "20th Century Man and Other Stories," written and performed by "Under 30" veteran B. Hutton. A series of "musings" on the nature of time, "20th Century Man" is extremely aural, with a rolling, poetic cadence. Hutton puts his sound technician through the wringer, makes his own vocal effects and draws on a pair of violinists to produce everything from horror movie music to traffic noise. There's visual spectacle, too; Hutton constructs a time machine onstage and makes good use of his own physical presence (including dance moves that would turn Ted Sadtler green with envy).
Hutton's piece is followed by "Ground Zero," Gabrielle Barnett's take on post-9/11 American values. Barnett is engaging as Miss American Pie, a well-intentioned but misguided symbol of the American spirit with a few thoughts on environmental sustainability, patriotism and American heritage. Barnett's doe-eyed Lady Liberty comes across as innocuous, but like a teenage "mean girl," her bubbly exterior is camouflage for a few well-aimed barbs. The piece is both ruthless and endearing, although it could have ended a few lines earlier; the end felt a little too pat.
The second act opens with Allison Warden's "Ode to the Polar Bear," by far the most polished performance on the program. Warden is a captivating storyteller in this piece that personalizes the problem of disappearing Arctic ice by emphasizing the connection between Alaska Natives and polar bears. During a question and answer session Friday night, Warden mentioned that she "wrote" her piece by videotaping herself talking rather than typing it out, and the result is a piece that feels drawn from an oral tradition, not memorized off a page.
During intermission, audience members were given ice cubes to hold, and while there is a passing reference to the ice early in the piece, it is never revisited; hopefully, as Warden revises the script, she will incorporate the ice more fully, as it has the potential to add another layer to the experience.
The final piece, "Finding My Voice," is Wendy Withrow's reminiscence about the coffeehouse she founded at her Southern Baptist women's college in the 1960s. Withrow tells the story naturally — there is no pretense that this is a fictional character — and even coaxes the audience into a sing-along. The story is nice and Withrow is engaging, although the piece would be a little more effective if there were a stronger connection between the opening anecdotes about singing hymns as a little girl, and the later material about the fulfillment Withrow got out of bringing music to her college campus.
All four pieces in "Under 30" are strong, although they could stand to be reordered to split up the more high-concept pieces, both of which are currently presented before the intermission. Moving "Ode to the Polar Bear," which feels like the anchor of the evening, to the final spot, would close "Under 30" on the highest of notes.
Maia Nolan lives and writes in Anchorage.
IF YOU GO: "Under 30," Friday-Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday 4 p.m. through Jan. 20 at Out North, 3800 DeBarr Road. Tickets are $15.75 online at www.outnorth.org or $18 at the door.
1 November 15, 2008 - 6:07pm | sexy1111
1111
.net/007">辣妹視訊,美女交友,色情影片,成人影片,成人網站,A片,H漫,18成人,成人圖片,成人漫畫,情色網,日本A片,免費A片下載,性愛,A片,色情,成人,做愛,情色文學,A片下載,色情遊戲,色情影片,色情聊天室,情色電影,免費視訊,免費視訊聊天,免費視訊聊天室,一葉情貼圖片區,情色,情色視訊,免費成人影片,視訊交友,視訊聊天,視訊聊天室,言情小說,愛情小說,AIO,AV片,A漫,av dvd,聊天室,自拍,情色論壇,視訊美女,AV成人網,色情A片,情趣用品,A片,免費A片,AV女優,美女視訊,情色交友,色情網站,免費AV,辣妹視訊,美女交友,色情影片,成人網站,H漫,18成人,成人圖片,成人漫畫,成人影片,情色網,sex,情趣用品,A片,免費A片,日本A片,A片下載,線上A片,成人電影,嘟嘟成人網,成人,成人貼圖,成人交友,成人圖片,18成人,成人小說,成人圖片區,微風成人區,成人文章,成人影城,情色,情色貼圖,色情聊天室,情色視訊,情色文學,色情小說,情色小說,臺灣情色網,色情,情色電影,色情遊戲,嘟嘟情人色網,麗的色遊戲,情色論壇,色情網站,一葉情貼圖片區,做愛,性愛,美女視訊,辣妹視訊,視訊聊天室,視訊交友網,免費視訊聊天,美女交友,做愛影片,情境坊歡愉用品,情趣用品,情人節禮物,情惑用品性易購
login or register to post comments | flag this »