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The Content of DADA: The Content is In the Observer

Posted by DCA Theater on November 24, 2008 in July-December 2008 Season, SOIREÉ DADA: SCHMÜCKT DER HALLEN

Written by Don Hall

We opened our show this weekend and it was fantastic.

Friday night, the crowd exceeded the capacity of the venue and, in tandem with the beautiful venue, the large cast that is ever changing, and the burning question of whether or not a show about Christmas through the cloudy lens of neo-DADA nonsense would - you know - work, things turned out excellently.

In terms of the artistic process the theater-blogospherium is constantly nattering about, I almost always wonder if a show I’ve directed will fall flat with a live audience or not. I can only direct what I like and what speaks to me and cross my fingers in hopes that there are other like-minded people who will see the same thing as I do. I am constantly tweaking things in my head and then on stage and at some point I have to stop and just let the goddamn thing breathe it’s own breaths and grow.

After the show, the DCA folks threw us a nice little reception and the requisite post-show banter issued forth.

Many from that opening night audience were pleasantly dazed and it seemed that most stuck around. I’m not much for the after-party scene - I tend to grab a beer and go hide until everyone has left - but I forced myself to speak to a couple of friends before I crawled under the stage.

Of all the comments - ranging from “That was absolutely amazing. I’m bringing my mom!” to “I don’t know it means but it works!” - my favorite was this [paraphrased] “This show captured exactly what Christmas with family feels like in a way that I have never seen in any other Christmas show I’ve been to.”

In the raging debate about content in theater, it is that comment that smacks me around a bit.

In DADA (or neo-DADA in a H/T to RLewis), the content is hidden, underneath the surface of the words spoken or the actions present. It is as if everything presented has a running subtext that, when put together in such a way, creates a feeling and a series of moments that add up. Change three of these moments and the subtext changes to amount to a different feeling. More important than the nuts and bolts of the show, however, is the intent of the performers.

With a neo-DADA cast this large, there is a range of focus. Some of the DADAS are riding the wave and allowing the work to take over and there is a flow in their presentation. These performers walk with a deep respect for the very DADA-ness of the thing and relinquish control to the experience of performing DADA. Jen is a true artisan of DADA, controlling the pace of things by keeping the boat pointed toward land and yet effortlessly, miraculously spouting nonsense and commentary in such a way that transfixes the guests - it is obvious that she embodies an integrity that most performers of any type in any show would envy.

Some of the neo-DADAs are less trusting of the nonsense and find ways to feel as if it is they who are controlling the ride - improvising jokes within the transitions, trying to manipulate the response into a favorable one, seeking the crack cocaine of audience approval. I know that I’ve cast well when these performers can so openly distrust the very thing we are presenting, performing with one foot in the soup and the other in their comfort zone, and still come off as whip-smart and invested.

When it works, what I see is downright Shakespearean - poetry, lofty heartbreaking moments of despair, tawdry toilet humor, rage, vengeance, and giddy childlike acceptance of a world that is somehow of this world and yet slightly elevated. When it doesn’t work it is because the balance between those moments of infused DADA nonsense and those moments of performers trying control the reaction of the audience tips slightly one way or the other - either too much indulgence in the deconstruction of meaning or too many bits and the house of cards begins to topple. It is that delicacy that makes each show a nail-biter.

Interestingly enough, after watching each of the three performances this weekend, I came away with three different interpretations of the content of the show and I believe that that is the substantive strength of a WNEP Theater DADA Soireé - the content is in the observer and because every observer has a different set of circumstance it is a unique experience for each individual.