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Frank Lloyd Wright play falls flat

Photo courtesy of Don Ipock

The company of "Work Song: Three Views of Frank Lloyd Wright" epitomizes the play's business. The play runs at the Temple of Music and Art through May 4.

By Angela Orlando
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Friday Apr. 26, 2002

Grade:
C

Sometimes each member of a band is a truly talented musician, but when the group plays as one, the sound is inharmonious. The colloquial chemistry is off, and itâs time for them to peaceably part and begin individual projects.

This artistic anomaly applies to drama, too, as is apparent in the Arizona Theatre Companyâs current production of ãWork Song: Three Views of Frank Lloyd Wright.ä It feels forced and rushed, slow and discordant, all at the same time.

The playâs falling flat is no fault of the theater company, the crew or any individual performance; rather, it seems to be because of a chemical imbalance ÷ an unstable bond between plot and medium.

The seemingly never-ending drama depicts the 90-year lifespan of the dynamic architect, which, long as it was, simply doesnât merit a play of such length and caliber. Wright was certainly an interesting character in the world of American art, though not overwhelmingly so. He had long periods of creative nothingness. He built structures that integrated the natural and the objective. He was a womanizer. Rumor has it he knew Ayn Rand.

But architecture and architects simply arenât conducive to drama. Itâs a genuine challenge to incite the general publicâs passion for buildings, builders and building materials. The play awkwardly tries to compensate for this by, for example, singing and dancing with huge wooden partitions, the kind used in homes and offices. It doesnât work.

Projected images and words, mood-setting lighting and accurate period costumes (exploration of skirt and tie length is prevalent) are all fabulously intricate and well-thought-out. But they too feel like post-modern afterthoughts, as though the playwrights Eric Simonson and Jeffrey Hatcher thought, ãHmm. How can we make architecture razzle-dazzle?ä and decided that adding little stage details was the ultimate solution.

Each actor is talented ÷ equipped with textbook acting techniques, a sense of volume and dramatic pause ÷ but they are also uninspired.

The dialogue is at best interesting, and the actors embrace it as best as they can, exuding extended, well-enunciated monologues about Wright and oppression. An interesting cameo by a 10-year-old child (played by local Phillip M. Blanchard) shyly warbling a cute hymn adds a certain depth.

But in its technical flawlessness, the show as a whole results in unsettling mediocrity. It lacks sparkle. It is vim-less. It is without spirit. And thatâs terribly unfortunate, considering the awesome season the Company has had, with such powerful modern plays as ãProof,ä ãFully Committedä and ã2 Pianos, 4 Hands.ä Itâs also terribly unfortunate because the play is running simultaneously with ãPhantom,ä where the communityâs theater dollars are sure to land.

The audience dwindles in attendance from full house to half between the second and third acts because the play is so damned long. The program gives fair warning of the number of acts and length of intermissions but neglects to mention the entire running time (including breaks) of three and a half hours. Thatâs ãGone With the Windä long. Long-winded. At times excruciating.

The play runs at the Temple of Music and Art at 330 S. Scott Ave., through May 4. Call the box office at 622-2823 for ticket info.

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