On Friday, March 16th, a company called Tattooed Potato showed its first public face at Flashpoint. Although they are not there yet, this group could easily evolve into yet another iconic local troupe. Their style is incipient, but distinctive. Watch for them.
Under the guidance of producer/ director John-Michael MacDonald, the company goes big. Mostly, it’s well executed, but the play itself is a bit of a mess.
Entitled The Nightmare Dreamer, this imaginative drama combines fantasy, psychology, and a bit of metaphysics. Through the magic of stagecraft, the small performance space is converted into an eerie, dreamlike state, where spectators—often needing to move their feet to avoid tripping the actors—are presented with such ponderous questions as: why do we have nightmares? Why do they so often recur? Do we need them?
The Nightmare Dreamer was workshopped in January, and judging by the cast’s post-show comments, the play took a very different form than this month’s show. Conceived a year or so ago by MacDonald, the story and dialogue are mostly a creation of the seven person cast; no playwright credit is listed in the show’s bill. This play is a collaborative effort, and still has some of the shapelessness that sometimes defines these projects.
Whatever is added or subtracted in future performances, I am certain that the cast can handle it. Consisting of Sara Barker, Genna Davidson, Josh Drew, Gwen Grastorf, John Milosich, Michael Rodriguez, and Randy Snight, they are a whirlwind of dramatic and physical energy. I truly wish I could give a more concise account of each performance. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to tell exactly who played who in this show. Except for Milosich, each member of the ensemble plays a bevy of unnamed characters. In one vertiginous scene, the half dozen actors pass by the motionless Milosich as a nonstop rush of humanity, making minor off-stage costume changes and reappearing onstage in a matter of seconds.
This play is a self-set trap for the cast. Not only does it test dramatic range, but it also wrings out their physical and visual prowess. Extreme poses, stage falls, pantomime, and yes, acrobatics come into play. Like I said, the kitchen sink.
At the center is Milosich. He plays the Nightmare Dreamer, a man with a very special power. He can take anyone’s nightmare away by dreaming it for them. The play begins with three nightmares, followed by the appearance of the Nightmare dreamer. Just when you think the earlier scene will be repeated, he steps in and takes the horror for them. Milosich is excellent at capturing the exact emotional tenor his cast mates had portrayed earlier as they were buried alive or had their guts ripped out.
But his gift is in fact a curse. Haunted by one experience in particular, the Nightmare Dreamer finds his worst nightmares are occurring while he is awake, and it is becoming harder to sleep. Is there any way he can break this curse?
Unfortunately, The Nightmare Dreamer is burdened with a lot of clutter that seems to cater to the whims of the cast more than the needs of the play. There are a number of visually beautiful scenes in the middle that might be excised for the sake of a cleaner story and in the later scenes the story loses its form, and staggers to its conclusion.
Make no mistakes, The Nightmare Dreamer is a more than worthy play, produced by a talented and ambitious company in the process of finding its bearings.
The Nightmare Dreamer runs thru April 7, 2012 at Flashpoint Gallery, Mead Theatre, 916 G Street NW, Washington, DC.
The Nightmare Dreamer
Conceived by John-Michael MacDonald; Created by the ensemble
Produced by John-Michael MacDonald and John Milosich for Tattooed Potato and Gino Tessara for Spotlight Communicaciones
Directed by John-Michael MacDonald
Reviewed by Steve Hallex
Recommended
Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes with no intermission
Other review
Great play. This is a young group, but the play, the cast and the production are very good. It is a blow of fresh air in the theater environment in DC. I strongly recommend it for theater avid fans and those interested in plays out of the ordinary.
Eduardo
Had the pleasure of seeing this show last Sunday. Everything about this play, from the low-level lighting to the sound of silence when you walk in, even John-Michael’s soft-spoken curtain speech, all put me in the frame of mind of dreaming. So when the play jumps around, story to story, moment to moment, in what may appear to be a haphazard way, I took that to be in the same vein: that this play was constructed not just as an introduction and examination of the Nightmare Dreamer, but also, from the audience’s perspective, as something being recalled like a dream. No one really remembers every second of a dream they’ve had: that fragmentation translated quite well to being onstage. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I strongly recommend this play!
This show left me really glad that this company is doing theatre in DC … and left me with the thought that I although it’s a completely satisfying experience in itself, the fluidity of the script and the artistry of the cast and director make me want to see what *else* they’ll make of this; if at all possible, I’ll be heading down to see it again.
Artists’ Bloc had the pleasure of working with John Michael and his team on this show for two workshop sessions this past year — once in June 2011 and again, as review Steve Hallex mentions, in January of this year. Having seen the full production this past weekend, I am struck not only by the level of artistry in design and performance, but by the impressive degree of focus the team has shown in both paring down their workshop ideas and developing a stronger spine for the story arc and character development.
Steve is right that the storyline in devised ensemble pieces (at least, those interesting in having storylines) can sometimes require more time to mold and strengthen than does a script tapped out by a single author. Do keep in mind, though, that this is far from a failing of the devised-show model. I dare say that there’s a great amount of creative value in the journey as well as the destination, and John Michael’s hunch that a more extended development period was needed for a show like this — a show best served by a combination of great design, movement and choreography, acting, AND story — seems spot-on to me.
Seeing The Nightmare Dreamer fully realized makes me feel both impressed by the precision the artists have found so far, as well as excited to see how the show evolves over the course of the run.
And, as always — DC Theatre Scene is a great forum in which to swap thoughts. I hope you’ll share yours below.
Hunter Styles
Artistic Director
Artists’ Bloc