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True Stories Can Be Stranger Than Fiction [Extra Extra ]
John-Paul Sartre once coolly remarked, "Man is not the sum of what he has already, but rather the sum of what he does not yet have, of what he could have." Such is the existential dilemma facing Baptiste, the antagonist of RoHo Productions' brilliant new play, "La Putain Avec Les Fleurs" (The Whore With the Flowers), now being performed at the Hideout Theatre.
Baptiste is a clown in a circus - moreover, he's the star of the traveling show, possessing the natural gift of making his audience "forget how miserable their lives are." Only, Baptiste himself is miserable: after all these years of delighting spectators, entertaining others no longer excites him. And so, convinced that he'll find meaning for his life elsewhere, Baptiste abandons everyone and everything he holds dear - his love, his best friend, and his family - and ignores the prophetic words of his manager, who muses, "Art has every meaning; Reality has none." On his quest for enlightenment, Baptiste tries his hand at playing various roles that he sees others finding meaning in - joining the army, raising a proper family, even seeking solace amongst monks - all, naturally, to little avail.
The plot, based on a novella by Henry Miller (which we were unable to find in town) and Hesse's Siddhartha, is just one of the many elements that make "La Putain" so compelling to watch. Like seasoned storytellers, RoHo Productions are creative, resourceful, and almost intuitive in their sense of dark comedy - the result is a play that manages to be hilarious, touching, oftentimes unpredictable, and wickedly kinetic. Among the more offbeat asides are a dance sequence involving one slightly bashful big brown bear, an audience-accompanied group song, and a wildly imaginative live-action take on a 1920's silent picture using strobe lighting.
Performing with a lively soundtrack and employing the liberal assistance of countless homemade and sometimes hand-colored props, the actors don't so much take to the stage as they take you, the audience, to their world: 1920's Paris, where disillusionment was a way of life. As Baptiste, Damien Moreau makes us experience his character's sensations of alienation and detachment. In the dual roles of Baptiste's lover, simply named "Circus Girl", and the whore whom he marries and fathers a child with before running away, Carly Walker has a spritely, effervescent glow about her. She stands in stark contrast to the deliberately oafish, always-second-fiddle Maurice, played convincingly by Leonel Garza, who also cracked us up with his version of a gruff-yet-cheerful taxi driver. At times stealing the show is Martin Lueke, who, whether delivering his alto-like recitations of nationalist sentiment as a soldier in the French army or sagely dispensations as the circus boss, always wears a look of shock on his face, as though caught off guard by his own words. As the narrator and band leader, Rob Houle radiates an understated charm that lends a certain sense of sophistication to the entire production.
The final act of "La Putain" ends with Baptiste finally understanding the futility of his quest - only, like Sartre hinted, what he needed most was the quest itself. We won't give any more away, but suffice it to say that the standing ovation heaped upon the cast and crew was well-deserved. Check it out for yourself, but don't delay - "La Putain Avec Les Fleurs" finishes its run this Saturday.
"La Putain Avec Les Fleurs"
Thursday-Saturday, 8pm
The Hideout Theatre [map]
$18
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