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WEEK of May 7, 2007 |
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Interplanetary
Mayhem from the Pen of...David Mamet? by Jeffrey Stanley “Planets! Listen! All planets go out through the last wing!” Planets and pandas sashayed across the stage in two rows as director Jeremy Richards shouted instructions at the cast of hyperactive Middle Schoolers during rehearsals of their upcoming play. “Pandas, you guys have to be in front of the planets!” He counted off the pandas—“one, two, three, four”—helping the four performers time their cross to the music. This rehearsal for the most unusual David Mamet play, The Revenge of the Space Pandas or Binky Rudich and the Two-Speed Clock, was rollicking along at full tilt. “This article in the paper says that by 2012 the world’s traffic problems will be solved,” says Bob the sheep (you read right) in the opening lines of this wry, futuristic comedy. “You’ll just have to take a pill and then you don’t want to go anymore.” This futuristic children’s play, a sort of Phantom Tollbooth meets The Day the Earth Stood Still, is one of Mamet’s early works and a rarely staged gem overshadowed by his well-known adult dramas. Make no mistake: this isn’t Speed the Plow. In this sci-fi adventure fable, child scientist Binky, his sheep companion Bob and his best friend Vivian travel to another world thanks to the special clock Binky has invented. The distant planet is called Crestview (“We thought the name would attract investors,” explains one inhabitant, perhaps predicting Mamet’s then-unwritten real estate masterpiece Glengarry Glenn Ross?). On planet Crestview, the three travelers must contend with the ruthless king George Topax and his militant pandas. Binky’s time-warping clock has also broken and now our three heroes are stuck there, trying to survive a homicidal royal court. The Middle School’s staging is an ambitious undertaking. Technical director Catherine Clark and her student crew have created an elaborate set and made innovative use of the stage, with a moonscape backdrop and a ten-foot tall red door hiding untold secrets. Catherine often uses this play in her Middle School design class so she she has thought much about its scenic possibilities. She showed the play to Jeremy this year as a possible Middle School production. He readily agreed. “I think the play explores some interesting themes,” he said. “The first thing that comes to mind is the old saying, ‘Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.’ There are some interesting explorations of friendship and what it means to be a friend as well.” Jeremy is happy with the production of this outlandish space fable. “The students take any challenge with energy and enthusiasm. They really get into it. Its kind of neat.” This Mamet production is not to be missed. Four performances are this Friday and Saturday with dual-casting for most of the roles, featuring Conor, Sam, Hannah, Miriam, Olivia, Giancarlo, Tierney, Alice, Cyrus, Nina, Kamali, Daniel, Willa, Jun, Chris, Lisa, Bianca, Evan, Luc, Sarah and Krystal. |
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