[ssba]
At Some Point in the Process of the End of the World
Reviewed by Vanessa Cate
Circle X Theatre Co. at Atwater Village Theatre
Through March 28
Despite the perhaps romantic notion that Casey Smith & Jennifer A. Skinner’s one man show was allegedly inspired by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the Seven Deadly Sins, when you get right down to it, the show is basically one man (Casey Smith) who mimes jerking off and other anally specific activities for a little more than an hour.
As the show opens, a projection shows Smith rising from a pile of feces. The real Smith appears on stage and promptly gets to work pleasuring the image of himself. This seems to make a case for a level of self-awareness of the masturbatory nature of the performance.
Questions like “How many objects could Casey Smith fit into his ass?”, “What would it look like if the Hansen brothers decided to have an orgy?” or “How would the audience feel if someone actively using a toilet were to stare them in the eyes?” are clearly of some pressing import to the creators. However, beyond such simple outrageous notions, there are some opportunities created here, often missed.
For instance, contextually, the scene in which a morbidly obese man uses a remote to raise himself to a reclining position before struggling to acquire and eat everything he can, could almost elicit some insight or deeper emotion. But even so, the scene is reduced instead to easy comedy to elicit knee-jerk shock. If you’re a fiend for edgy theater, the content within is not revolutionary, but you might be delighted all the same.
In praise, I can say that Casey Smith is giving it all he’s got on the stage and committing utterly to the most vile or meaningless of acts. Music choices are really effective, and Dustin Hughes’s video and projection design raises the show to higher level. The performance in fact succeeds most when using the projections to their fullest potential, such as in the scene “Instant Recess” in which the audience travels with Smith through a forest, or “Photoshit” in which photographs of the live theater goers turn out to be more than what they would seem.
If the thought delights you to see one man in a plaid shirt and shorts act out scenes involving masturbation, vomit, shit, anal pleasure, oral pleasure, and nonchalant infanticide, by all means see the show. The only other virtue I can submit is for the truly philosophical theater-goer who will take the opportunity after the show, as I did, to really re-evaluate what they’re doing with their life and what the hell art is anyway.
Circle X Theatre Co. at Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90039; Fri.- Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun. 7 p.m.; through March 28. (323) 644-1929, www.circlextheatre.org
