A bleak stage is revealed, where all is cloaked in blackness except for a blindingly white table and the sheen of the long gray hair of the two identical figures seated there. This is setting of Samuel Beckett's ""Ohio Impromptu,"" the first of the four Beckett plays that make up the University Theatre's latest production, ""The Beckett Project.""
To commemorate Beckett's 100th birthday, the Llanarth Group collaborated with University Theatre to stage four rarely performed short masterpieces: ""Ohio Impromptu,"" ""Not I,"" ""Act Without Words I"" and ""Rockaby."" The critically acclaimed Llanarth group, lead by former UW-Madison drama professor Phillip Zarrilli, includes current UW professor Patricia Boyette and actor Andy Crook.
Of the four plays, ""Not I"" is the most mesmerizing and obscure performance. Again, the stage is dark except for a woman's mouth, floating about eight feet in the air. To the left of the stage there is a speechless auditor enshrouded in black, who expresses growing agitation with the Mouth's hysterical monologue.
It is significant that the woman (Boyette) is reduced to a mouth, and more so that Beckett's mouth rejects the use of the first-person pronoun, referencing only ""she"" in her story—hence the play's title. Boyette's performance as Mouth is convincing; reduced to flapping lips, tongue smacks and a continuous flood of words, Boyette composes the ideal Beckett character in her deference of an accountable ""I"" and yet, as her ceaseless rambling of words illustrates, her persistence to go on.
Zarrilli and Crook also give commendable performances in the highly existential play ""Act Without Words I."" Closely akin to Beckett's well-known ""Waiting for Godot,"" ""Act Without Words I"" stages the protagonist (Zarrilli), who is flung into a desert. Thirsty and hot, he is teased by Crook's character to the point that he realizes all the hopes of this world are fruitless. The curtain sets with Zarrilli sitting on the stage, his face woven with angst.
The closing short play, ""Rockaby,"" follows precedent in both authenticity and obscurity, showing the audience a rocking chair that rocks an old woman rather than her rocking it.
With acute sensitivity to Beckett's work, ""The Beckett Project"" reveals Beckett's perspective on the human condition.
