Seeing Myself Consumed a Christmas Spectacular!
Written and Directed by Brendan Mack
DEC 4 - 18, 2009
When we were young, we didn’t worry about bills, insurance, foreign policy, the degradation of the free world, or the prospects of our own demise. We were worried about if there was enough daylight left to ride our bikes down to the trails. We were worried about getting our homework done well enough that we wouldn’t get ridiculed in front of the rest of the class. We were worried about who we were going to sit with at lunch. Not children our own age who were basically enslaved in sweatshop labor--we didn’t know.
But today, children and adults alike are consumed with knowing all the same information. We are in recession, environmentalism, consumerism, terror over the chemicals in our food, a loss of innocence. We can never go back. It envelopes us, it concerns us, it, consumes us. Consumers, consumerism, a woman- consumed. Seeing Myself Consumed.
There are also Christmas dances. It’s a Christmas show too. NOT all doom and gloom.
The Artist will use a variety of performance art forms to exemplify these experiences, thoughts and feelings. Through Dance, Interpretive Movement, Spoken Word, Painting, Culinary Arts, Improvisation, Lyrical Music, Shadow Mastering, Sock Puppetry, Mask and Mime, Poetry, Percussion, Pantomime, Gardening, and knitting.
This 8 movement structure in the Artist's Performance art aria best relates her feeling of seeing herself completely consumed by the world she is suddenly aware that she’s living in.
-
-
ArtAttack Theatre
1715 E. Olive Way
Seattle, WA 98102Tickets $15-$30
the Cast and Crew
Natalie Saxon |
as the Performance Artist |
Ashley Coates |
as the Ensemble Leader |
Becky Peterson |
as the Musician |
Brendan Mack |
as the Stage Manager |
Colin Madison |
as the Antagonist |
hailey Hays |
as the Dancer |
James Oestreich |
as the Gay |
Jason Studstill |
as the Techie |
Jen Owen |
as the Foil |
John Huddlestun |
as the Choreographer |
Music Composition |
John Huddlestun |
John Huddlestun & Brendan Mack |
Choreography |
Taryn Collis |
Puppet Design |
Stanley Vegors |
Lighting Design |
Brendan Mack |
Scenic Painting |
Jason Studstill |
Lights & Sound |
Seattle Weekly - Seeing Myself Consumed
Rationed pleasures in a grouchy holiday meta-show.
By Margaret Friedman Wednesday, Dec 16 2009
Upon entering ArtAttack's cute new space, you will be required to sign a contract. The print is too small to read, and the page is completely covered with it. The gatekeeper explains that the contract requires you to stay for the entire next hour and 45 minutes, then leave immediately afterward. Welcome to performance art, where even one's basic right to walk out on a show is challenged. Who is the customer/king here, anyway? As one-third of the whole audience the night I saw Seeing Myself Consumed, I can attest it was not me. But that was OK. In fact, it was refreshingly, if a bit affrontingly, different.
Details: ArtAttack Theater, 1715 E. Olive Way, 800-838-3006, seattlestageright.org. $15–$30. 8 & 10:30 p.m. Wed., Dec. 16 & Fri., Dec. 18.
"I don't want you to like me," snaps Natalie Saxon, the grouchy lead artist in the show (created by Meggie Doyle and Brendan Mack). The evening's loose conceit is that Saxon is a "serious issues" performance-art diva whose producer/manager (Mack) is pressuring her to jazz up her act with Christmas references, songs, and other seasonal schmaltz. But this narrative framework intermittently dissolves into a dizzying onslaught of concept-driven ensemble numbers performed by a supporting cast of eight. These include singing, dancing, free association, outlandish "facts" about high-fructose corn syrup, interpretive dance, anti-consumerist activism, and spoofy moments of wallowy self-indulgence. Themes are pretty darn muddled, but that seems to be the point.
The attractive and talented cast maximizes the in-the-moment entertainment value of these seemingly random vignettes. Pleasure is strictly rationed by the show's authors, in calculated resistance to a whole holiday "story." And the portions are sometimes enjoyable. Highlights for me included atonal cello music with high-voiced male accompaniment, a pantomime of O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi," a scene of iPhone cult worship, and the one occasion when chronically cranky Saxon breaks into a smile (while getting jiggy with the corniest song in the universe). But hey, don't get too comfortable: You will be evicted promptly afterward, per the terms of your contract.
Review at www.seattleweekly.com
Margaret Friedman's Reviews
Seattle Gay Scene - Seeing Myself Consumed: An Alternative Christmas Spectacular
Posted by Ethel W. on 12/13/2009 03:14:00 PM
The new fringe theatre company, StageRight has its very first production with Seeing Myself Consumed: A Christmas Spectacular. The show is written and directed by Brendan Mack with Natalie Saxon as the "Performance Artist". The Performance Art Aria Series premiered in Syracuse, New York in 2007 and was conceived by Meggie Doyle and Brendan Mack.
The new company will be a welcomed troupe for Seattle, which not too long ago lost the annual Fringe Festival because of tight arts funding. I enjoyed all aspects of StageRight including the performance art. It is so different than mainstream theatre offerings. An act can be as brief as 15 minutes and performers strive for relevant material in today's world. Well done performance art has elements of time, space and relationship between the performer's body and the audience; very little is off limits for performance art.
This is the holiday season where everywhere you turn; music, films, theatre and company events celebrate Christmas and the mass consumerism that goes hand in hand. And this production is your ticket to a break from the usual. It's unconventional from the start. As the audience arrives they have to sign a contract agreeing not to walk out during any of the 110 minutes of the performance. The cast of nine, with Ms. Saxon will amuse you on a number of levels with a mock-performance art mixed with Christmas stuff.
Ms. Saxon tries to give a serious look and performance piece about consumerism starting with the cult of the iPod. She's somber about her art despite all the road blocks that keep popping up for her with Brendan, the stage manager and the rest of the cast. She wants to put on a serious performance art piece about consumerism, but her Christmas-loving stage manager convinces her to add Christmas songs and dances to entertain the audience. It doesn't quite go as planned. This is all tied together with dance, song, gymnastics and even silence during the 110 minutes. The cast present a small Christmas pageant but that doesn't last long. I enjoyed the number about Blatant Propaganda with High Fructose. Who knew high fructose could make you bald? See, this is not your usual holiday show. So if you want something way off the beaten path this season check out this StageRight production.
Seeing Myself Consumed: A Christmas Spectacular runs through December 19, 2009 and the final two performances are already sold out for Saturday. Full price $30 tickets supports this fringe theater. If you need a discount, tickets for $15 are also available with a discount code available on their website. Visit seattlestageright.org for all the details.
- Ethel W.
Review at www.seattlegayscene.com
