If Slovenian poet Srecko Kosovel ever wanted to compete with Ed Sullivan, he might have produced something like Man in a Magic Square, Theatre Gigante’s eclectic cabaret that played this weekend at the Off-Broadway Theatre. Created and directed by Gigante founder Isabelle Kralj, this collection of music, dance and the spoken-word never gave you the chance to settle in to a particular genre. The text moves freely between Kosovel’s poetry and Mark Anderson’s playful free-form monologs. Some of it is underscored with music, and some of it accompanies a dance—most often either the balletic twirls of Ursa Vidmar, a member of the Slovenian Opera Ballet, or the burly athletics of Milwaukeean Joe Fransee. Some of it is spoken in an everyday sing-song, and some with the great care and expression of an experienced elocutionist (University of Michigan’s Malcolm Tulip).
Tossing around material between several collected artists is an interesting idea, but doesn’t always serve the material. Anderson’s monologs, for example, don’t really flower in another actor’s voice—they miss the gangly, “now where was I?” uncertainty that make them powerfully human. Still, it’s a treat to hear them, and their searching, absurdist conundrums are a nice complement to Kosovel’s symbolist homilies.
And a treat to hear the music of accordianist Guy Klucevsek and guitarist Peter Roller (with sensitive percussion by Seth Warren-Crow. Klucevsek is one of the world’s great instrumentalists, and it was a treat to hear him play in such intimate surroundings (and slightly sad to see him in front of an audience of barely two dozen, but that’s another story). Klucevsek loves playing with form, meter (count along to measures of seven or fifteen) and tone. In his arrangement of Burt Bacharach’s “One Less Bell to Answer” (which he played here at Present Music’s 2007 accordion-fest at the Milwaukee Art Museum), he clusters at the far end of the keyboard, transforming what seems to be a single note by adding and subtracting sounds and overtones. Peter Roller’s guitar work (on acoustic steel-string and dobro) was also a joy, adding a touch of the homespun blues to the otherwise Slavic mix.
Review- Man in the Magic Square
If Slovenian poet Srecko Kosovel ever wanted to compete with Ed Sullivan, he might have produced something like Man in a Magic Square, Theatre Gigante’s eclectic cabaret that played this weekend at the Off-Broadway Theatre. Created and directed by Gigante founder Isabelle Kralj, this collection of music, dance and the spoken-word never gave you the chance to settle in to a particular genre. The text moves freely between Kosovel’s poetry and Mark Anderson’s playful free-form monologs. Some of it is underscored with music, and some of it accompanies a dance—most often either the balletic twirls of Ursa Vidmar, a member…
