My Technology


My Technology
Presented by Deena Levy Theatre Studios
Conceived and directed by Deena Levy

Personal monologues – that is, autobiographical monologues – are tough to pull off. They need to work without drama. They need to be so personal that they’re universal. We need to like the actor, to identify with them, and to see our own faults in them.

My Technology, presented by Deena Levy Theatre Studio, is a set of nine of this sort of monologue, revolving around technology and its effect on our personal life (although in truth some of them touch on technology only in passing).

The best monologue, which is very good and the only one that works for us, is Danny Patrick’s piece Deaf Man Crossing. Mr. Patrick was in a coma for 12 days after a bar fight. When he woke he had lost most of hearing. The pacing of his work is very nice; we have the time to relate to what he’s saying and to care about him. There are particularly welcome moments when he relates talking to his grandmother, also hearing disabled, on the telephone. The technology tie-in refers to the earbuds he wears.

There are some other nice points in the evening. Graceann Dorse has one when she says “I know what it means to wait for luck.” And Tom Miller has an interesting moment when he talks about virtual sex and says guiltily “I know I should want someone to want me in her life.”

But for the most part the evening fails. We can’t follow some of the monologues; the performers leave us behind. It was all conceived and directed by Deena Levy, and she seems to have encouraged about half her actors – the excitable ones – to speak as quickly as possible. She’s given us the same tone between and within many of the monologues, without dynamic differentiation. We’re given little insight into technology, only routine observations like “I think I’m getting addicted to this new cyber-version of myself.”

From time to time the actors in My Technology are endearing with their nervous smiles, but on the whole they leave no impression on us.

Popular posts from this blog

Anouilh's Antigone

There is a moment in Fusion Theatre’s production of Jean Anouilh’s Antigone (at Theatre Row’s Studio Theatre) when Creon says to Antigone “Don’t annihilate me with those eyes.” And indeed, Antigone’s unrelenting stare does seem to be annihilating him, as it’s been annihilating everyone. As Antigone, Eilin O’Dea motivates Creon’s line so well that it seems Anouilh has written it in response to the actress. Anouilh’s play, as this production makes clear, is an important drama. Anouilh reworked Sophocles’ play keeping the ancient Greek names and keeping the action in Thebes. The characters, however, mention tobacco, blood tests, film and cars. The dissonance reminds us that Anouilh’s message of courage and moral responsibility is ageless. Anouilh has created a raisonneur in a character called simply The Chorus. Tragedy, he tells us, “has nothing to do with melodrama”. “In tragedy, argument is gratuitous,” he says, but this is a very strange line; Antigone and Creon will soo...
Read more

C.S. Lewis on Stage: The Most Reluctant Convert

C.S. Lewis lived between 1898 and 1963. He’s best known for his works of fiction such as The Screwtape Letters and The Chronicles of Narnia , although his non-fiction work is arguably more important. He ranks among the foremost 20 th -century Christian apologists and theologians. Max McLean has written a terrific solo show in which he presents Lewis in his study at Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1950, C.S. Lewis on Stage: The Most Reluctant Convert . Mr. MacLean is the show’s actor, and he’s co-directed it with Ken Denison. The script details Lewis’ conversion from atheism to Christianity, delineating the transformation in discrete steps. Lewis begins with his childhood in Belfast: “Mother’s death produced in me a deeply engrained pessimism,” he tells us. And “At 13 I ceased to be a Christian. At that age one scarcely notices.” He was confirmed in The Church of Ireland “in total disbelief.” The script presents us with the structure of Lewis’ life – his time at Oxford, his enli...
Read more

A Blanket of Dust

Image
Photo by Sharon Kinsella In Richard Squires’ play A Blanket of Dust, presented at The Flea Theater by Delphi Film in association with Alfonso Ramos and Eve Pomerance, a woman, Diane, looses her husband in the 9-11 disaster. She’s convinced that the government is responsible for the catastrophe, and campaigns to uncover the conspiracy. She’s a Senator’s daughter, so the issue becomes a family affair. Years later, she becomes involved with Andrew, a book store owner active in the dissident movement. Andrew is also at odds with his parents on political issues (his father is in government but it’s not clear what his position is.) In frustration, Andrew commits suicide - he sets fire to himself - in protest. This is all pretty grim, but, well, it’s a grim world, and it’s good to see issue- committed theater.   Mr. Squires’ keeps his script as lean as the WTC towers. The characters have no identity aside from their attitudes toward the issue, aside from the sketchy romance. ...
Read more