Prayer: A Song Cycle

Reviewed by Martín Hernandez
Ecclectic Company Theatre
Through July 13

Photo by Justin LaViolette

This multi-media performance piece was inspired by a dream performer Evie Ruth had after seeing the 2008 documentary Herb and Dorothy about “proletarian” art collectors Herb and Dorothy Vogel. In the dream, Dorothy held an airmail letter during a procession with the instructions for a performance installation entitled Prayer written on it. With composer/performer Sackjo22’s songs and Haskel Joseph’s guitar accompaniment, the work combines music, text, video and movement to bring that dream to life and pay homage to Dorothy Vogel’s passion for art. It alternates, like most dreams, between the esoteric, the perplexing and the sublime. Also like most dreams, what transpires can be striking but ephemeral and too easily forgotten.

With myriad images – from the terrestrial to the extraterrestrial, from flora to fauna – projected behind her, Dorothy (Beth Ricketson) begins an ethereal journey of self-discovery. Soon, she is joined by the yin-yang Chorus of Black (a bird-like, black-clad, Sackjo22) and White (a stately white-clad Ruth) entering and covered by silvery shrouds they eventually discard to reveal elaborate costumes, makeup and hairstyles. The Chorus sings of cracked mirrors, the holding of hearts, and amazing grace as they guide Dorothy on her trip, aided by a symbolic gestures and movements. At one points White removes Dorothy’s shoes and at another Dorothy is wrapped in a shroud of her own (a premonition of impending death? Does Dorothy need some new shoes?) In one amusing but too-short a sequence, White and Black engage in a dance-bit mirroring each other’s movements, a sort of New-Age take on an old Marx Brothers bit.

What does it all mean? The program states the cycle is about “prayer as a conduit for transformation” but I couldn’t tell if anyone on stage was transformed. Director Angela Grillo creates some arresting visuals but the 45-minute running time isn’t long enough to fully develop the concept. It’s too bad since the time it took for the Chorus to get into their wardrobe, makeup and hairstyles probably exceeded the show’s length.

The Reflective Collective at The Eclectic Company Theatre, 5312 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Valley Village; Fri.-Sat., 8:30 p.m.; Sun., 7:30 p.m. (dark July 4; added perf Sun., July 6, 3 p.m.); through July 13. eclecticcompanytheatre.org