Is it possible to disguise your true feelings? If so, is it sustainable?
What’s the nature of disguise, anyway?
These were all salient questions as I exited the EXIT Theatre and ran smack into a costume ball conga line.
Barely dressed bunnies and padded chest supermen vied for position along sidewalks filled with gawkers bearing witness to one of San Francisco’s favorite holidays. I always wonder if costumes are chosen for an enhanced, imagined reality or as an escape from a reality in which the wearers have precious little control.
Cutting Ball’s new production of Pelleas & Melisande explores these and other questions in a symbolic way. Not surprising, given the play's status as a seminal work of French symbolist (and Nobel prize winner) Maurice Maeterlinck.
What is surprising is the complete, 360 degree experience provided by Cutting Ball’s uber-talented Artistic Director Rob Melrose. Not only did he painstakingly translate and direct the play, he rounded up some of the area’s most talented artists to produce original music (Cliff Caruthers) and videos (Wesley Cabral) that run throughout. Add in a unique set, a gorgeous cast as well as exquisite costuming and choreography and you get a magical couple of hours.
Symbolism aside, there is some terrific acting. Caitlin Louchard glitters as the ill-fated princess Melisande. Bay Area favorites Paul Gerrior and Gwyneth Richards also give stellar performances. Richards almost steals the show as a crone sharing scandalous news with an eager audience of fellow servants. Classic.
While much is alluded to in Pelleas & Melisande, specifics are few. The plot is the polar opposite of literal….and the perfect foil for projecting your own pathos. Or not.
Before you go (and you must go!), check out the Director's Notes as well as the Wikipedia entry to learn about the history. Pelleas & Melisande has inspired artists to further interpret the work in an opera as well as a symphonic poem for orchestra.
Like Debussy, Sibelius and others, interpret this "adult fairy tale" as you will…like a superhero or a sugar skull to remember Day of the Dead.
It’s all up to you and your imagination.
Runs through 11/27, tickets and more info here.
top: Melisande (Caitlyn Louchard) and Pelleas (Joshua Schell) watch as her ring disappears into the depths of the spring in Cutting Ball Theater’s Pelleas & Melisande
Photo by Rob Melrose
bottom: Golaud (Derek Fischer) pulls Melisande (Caitlyn Louchard) by her extraordinarily long hair in Cutting Ball Theater’s Pelleas & Melisande
Photo by Annie Paladino
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