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Opinionist: <em>The Granduncle Quadrilogy</em>
By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 7, 2008
Modified Dec 7, 2008
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By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 7, 2008
Modified Dec 7, 2008
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Ken Stein/Running With Scissors Photography.
If Joseph Campbell ever got really baked and told his grandchildren a meandering bedtime story, it might have sounded something like The Granduncle Quadrilogy, a whimsical four part fairytale "from the Land of Ice," presented by Piper McKenzie at the Brick Theater in Williamsburg. Playwright Jeff Lewoncyzk's idiosyncratic fable centers on a bungling hero, the titular Granduncle, and his kooky misadventures in an imaginary arctic land where war is everlasting and it's so damn cold everyone looks forward to death, when they can finally join their messiah in heaven. (Which is under the ice.)
Produced on a shoestring, the minimalist set proves you don't need much to evoke an alternate reality in the theater. With just a white backdrop suggesting a desolate snow-blind north country, and Julianne Kroboth's elaborately funky costumes of pelts and feathers, director Hope Cartelli transports the audience deep into the tundra, where the ensemble unfolds stories of war, forced labor, and love during the annual seven day spring. It's a world where bored schoolkids violate the unpopular girl with a mammoth trunk, which doesn't sound like a very funny prank, but it is.
Each of the play's four parts is presented as an oral history of the Granduncle's life, as told from his deathbed to a group of restless children. Richard Harrington plays the part with monotonous detachment, and it's not quite clear if his flat performance is intended ironically. In the end, there's considerable relief when he expires, for "never again will he weave long-winded stories that scare the children." Alternately amusing and vague, the quadrilogy itself is rather long-winded; at times the whimsy wears thin and the momentum freezes up. But there's an endearing 'let's put on a play' charm at work here, and the rest of the ensemble is skilled enough to keep breaking the ice.
Tagged
brick theater
brooklyn
granduncle trilogy
new york
nyc
off-broadway
play
show
williamsburg
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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