Slaves
Through Sept. 24 at the Yale Cabaret, 217 Park St., New Haven. (203) 432-1566.
By Sunder Ganglani. Performed by Chris Henry, Jillian Taylor and Adina Verson.
I wrestle constantly with the changing nature and definition of modern theater performance. So does the Yale Cabaret. Whatever you make of Slaves, SunderGanglani’s season-opening sensory soul-search bodes well for an extension of the genre-bending experiments the Cabaret arranged last year.
You’re going to hear the dreaded i-word from the haters about this show, but I’d argue that accusations of Indulgence are unwarranted. This is a carefully structured, well-argued dialogue in which the audience is often a key, if unwilling participant. There are also long periods of meditative silence, which a lot of theatergoers generally can’t handle. I think it works here, especially in the ethereal calm of the Cabaret’s 11 p.m. late slot.
There are declamatory sensibilities in common with Peter Handke’s classic Offending the Audience, except that Slaves is the attitudinal opposite of Handke’s openly antagonistic piece. You could call this one Befriending the Audience. We are graciously and leisurely indoctrinated into the casual values of the piece by actors Chris Henry and Adina Verson, who sit calmly in folding chairs front of curtain (A curtain! At the Cabaret!), comfortable despite the noticeable bulges in the backs of their shirts, leading us through a harmless set of casual exchanges and insecure ideas. Those back bulges spout later on.
Slaves is a neat blend of technical precision and raw languor. That long curtain blocks sightlines from the Cabaret’s built-in sound booth, so the tech staff sits instead a long table stageside. The play’s unpredictability is countered by its rituals, just as its preparedness is surrounded by casualness.
It’s a play of pronouncements—“I am a power point, so you don’t need one.” A charting of powers and gifts. Then it’s a play of music and dancing. Then you pay for your meal and glide home under the stars.
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