FLEUR ELISE NOBLE: 2 DIMENSIONAL LIFE OF HER
This is to installation art what NEVA is to theater: a sublime illustration of the form.
Noble’s collage (of projected images, cut-outs, drawings, puppets, paper, and Ms. Elise herself in constant movement somewhere in the space) creates a crisp black-and-white world, with more shades of grey in between than you might ever have imagined, and, in its endlessly inventive way, continuously defies any expectations you might have. A bold conflagration – the only flash of color in the film –
tears apart that very world before Ms. Elise puts it all together again, though, once again, not in ways that are in any way predictable. This is something to be seen and seen again and yet again. And, at forty breathtaking minutes, it is far too short.
(ends June 19; Alexandria Hotel)
CHRISTINE MARIE & ENSEMBLE: GROUND TO CLOUD
& MIYA MATREYEK: MYTH AND INFRASTRUCTURE
The former is lovely and lyrical shadow play, complete with a 3-D moment, and, in addition, it contains an homage to Balinese puppetry that is charming and affecting. The latter is a stunning visual treat in which Matreyek interplays – behind a screen on which animated images are projected from the front and from the rear –
with those images which are startlingly fresh, bold, playful, and just plain gorgeous. Matreyek pointed out that she has performed the piece at a three-year-old’s birthday party and it doesn’t surprise me, since I was reduced to a state of child-like wonderment and exhilaration every enchanting moment of its length. What does it have to do with theater? Well, we can already see how more and more set designers are becoming dependent on the use of projected images; it is very much a part of the future of the theater. So is Miya Matreyek.
(ends June 18; Los Angeles Theater Center)
harveyperr @ stageandcinema.com
for tickets, visit http://www.redcat.org/event/radar-la-festival