Dance of Death
Every now and then, a play comes along that is so weird and unsettling and quirky that it sticks in your mind like the fragment of a song. Nick Starrs new omnibus of tenuously related short plays The Awesome Dance is definitely one of them.
A collection of four one-acts that share almost nothing but a feeling of dread, The Awesome Dance is a borderline hallucinatory experience. Every setting is suffused with the threat of violence or death, and by the end of most, that threat has been fulfilled. Patients of a guru find themselves with far more pressing problems to face than their own petty emotions; a couple ostensibly prepare themselves for a funeral while unspoken betrayals bubble just beneath the surface; a lesbian couple sit in stunned silence while waiting for their child to be born as a pot-smoking midwife tells them comforting fables about infanticide; and three odd sisters celebrate New Years Eve with a séance of sorts.
To a woman, the trio of actresses in the cast of four reveals an affinity for Starrs dark comedy. Caitlin Talbot displays a talent for ominous calm; Julie Cavalieres wide eyes and excited delivery hint at darker emotions; and, especially, Rachel Cornishs tense and witty characterizations, from a jittery friend in the gurus waiting room to a nervous woman talking to a stuffed animal as if it were her unborn child, both repel and embrace the latent doom that Starr has written into his four plots. Only Dileep Rao, as the sole male cast member, is disappointing. Neither as versatile nor as polished as his co-stars, Raos performances feel like feeds for the women, all of whom, it must be said, soar through their various roles.
Directed with aplomb by Malinda Sorci (never have set changes in such a small space been so seamless) and helped immensely by clever lighting from Al Roundtree that minimize the costume-change waits, The Awesome Dance slowly morphs from a witty dark comedy into something deeper: a play about the pain of living, a point of view that Starr comes closest to announcing with the midwifes long monologue about a goddess who comes to Earth to save her brothers from the eternal damnation of life as mortals. But even in face of adultery or a gleaming knife, Starrs characters display a remarkable poise and gallows humor. This is one playwright whose dancecard should fill up quickly.
The Awesome Dance
Through Sept. 25, The Cherry Pit, 155 Bank St. (betw. Washington & West Sts.), 212-352-3101; $18