arc+DesiGn perFormance
)EATH AND EXHAUSTION IN AN UTOPIC VACUUM
Laurel Woodcock's
Game and Operetta
Western Front (303 East 8 t h Ave) To Dec 15

of modernism five decades after its inception. The gaps
between past, present and future are compressed and
transformed through the process of examining how we
have attempted in the past to predict the future, and
how now in the year 2001 we are in a unique position
to recognize that the future that was, is actually now.
Holly Ward

Passengers and Tour Guides
Installation by Kevin Rodgers and Derek Sullivan
Artspeak (233 Carrall) To November 24

Amidst the hyperactivity of Live, the performance
rt festival currently sweeping across Vancouver, are
.aurel Woodcock's video installation pieces Game
ind Operetta. Each video functions as an investigation
>f the performative act, specifically endurance, and
he signinfigance of the act's mediation through
ideo.
Operetta consists of a looped video projection of a
>ottle fly in the throes of slow death accompanied by
he famous speech of Hal, the personified computer in
Stanley Kubrick's 200J A Space Odyssey, in the throes
)f it's own disillusioning malfunction.
The melodrama of this piece is intentional, and the
idiculous sadness of either one is heightened expolentially by their coupling. The fly on the wall is
viewed at over a thousand times it's size, allowing us
o appreciate its beautifully colored and exquisitely
intricate insect body and consequently mourn the
death of what is usually considered a pest. Within the
mtimate darkness of the gallery we become aware of
:he construct of melodrama being used as well as the
manipulation of the unintentional performer (the fly).
Game is a piece that requires play. In order to
understand the visual, a projection of a young woman's
face performing repetitive and concentrated movements with her hands off screen, the viewer must wear
he provided headphones. By being allowed to view
only the girl's face we are forced to form an emotive
:onnection with the performer. Exhaustion, joy, frustration all flicker over her features but are ultimately supressed by her seemingly naive determination to
continue. The scopophilic exploitation of her innocence (as a performer) becomes as pronounced as that
Df the fly in the adjacent room.
Both works contain the flavour of failed optimism
and it is assumed that the audience will recognize this
flavour. This assumption is part and parcel of postmodern culture, a goodbye gesture to the aspirations
HEATRE, COMEDY & DANCE
lying Blind- To Nov 24. Box office: 604.687.1644. Good

The gist of this exhibition is that the artists have
never been to Vancouver; their work is an installation
that illustrates this idea. The artists have collected
images and brochures, which they then digested into
their musings about what the West Coast might be like.
There is also a large, sparse drawing that is a convincingly naive rendering of this supposed coastal city. All
buildings in the drawing are visible, laid bare to the
viewer like Winnipeg when arriving by airplane. This
suggests a perception that where the ocean meets the
land it is as calm as a freshwater lake. Hand-written,
convoluted, conversational text framed on the wall
suggests dialogue that has been imagined in Vancouver
or had taken place elsewhere but then spliced into the
show to fill out the fiction of the work.
In the gallery, the exhibition constructs a bubble in
which Vancouverites - who presumably do not think of
Vancouver the same way that Rodgers and Sullivan do
- are permitted to be transported instantly to a place
where Vancouver isn't physical. It manifestly denies
the street outside and the view from it of the North
Shore mountains. The work is successful in that way;
it does transport. This is superficially flattering and
alienating at the same time.

American Buffallo
by David Mamet
The Havana (1212 Commercial Drive) To Nov 11
American Buffalo, written in 1975, is one of David
Mamet's earliest plays. There is little sign of immaturity in the writing however; it is a play that brilliantly
exemplifies Mamet's trademark poetic portrayal of
the vernacular, minimalist dialogue saturated with
subtext, and most of all, characters flailing in a wasteland of society.
This masterful play has been tackled by C-me
Productions, and the event left me disappointed to say
the least. Directed by Jesai Jayhmes, actors Peter
Abrams, Marko Hohlbein and Donovan Cerminara
work hard together to bring Mamet's text to life. It is
not an easy task - Mametspeak, as it has become
known, requires as much skill as Shakespeare or
Beckett. The cast struggles with the play's style,
resulting in overacting that drowns the skilfully
scripted dialogue.
Abrams seems miscast in the role of the arrogant,
street-wise Teach. In a dedicated and energetic performance he attempts, in vain, to build the character
on smashing furniture, raising his voice and leaping
about - impressively overcoming the constraints of
the cramped Havana Theatre. Cerminara plays the
young, dim-witted Bobby - his shyness however, is
so exaggerated that most of his words are mumbled
and then lost into his jacket collar. An air of calmness
is added to the production by Hohlbein who plays the
world-weary shop owner Donny. It is from Donny's
junk shop that this play unravels. A local customer
pays Don $90 for an American Buffalo nickel. Don,

having to do with Canadian displacement or internal
migration. However, were the show totally fluffy and
not invested with time and consideration of images, as
it appears to be, it would come off as unutterably and
drily whimsical. Fine enough. But with all the creators'
investment it doesn't get terribly critical. Their selfreflexivity seems to be a tool with which the artists can
forego sincere emotional investment in place and
retain a cool though self-mocking distance. It seems to
be their joke on Vancouver.
Craig Stewart

feeling exploited by a coin savvy collector, sets his
mind on retrieving his nickel and thus pursuing the
possibility of further collectibles and potential wealth.
Teach soon gets himself involved in the affair, uses
his manipulation to oust Bobby from the plan, and
farcically undertakes the plotting of this burglary.
This may sound like the basis of a predictable smalltime crook story, but it is not. Mametcreates a subtext
that is far-reaching. The play portrays characters desperately searching for some significance within their
empty existences, characters full of wise words to
throw about, but devoid of the sensibility to live by
them.
The set, created by Abrams, Hohlbein and Jason
Conroy, appropriately resembles a window of one of
the many junk shops you'll see walking down Main
Street. The sound was poor, with too many cringeworthy moments, such as the telephone failing to stop
ringing after Don had answered it, and the sound
effect of rain occasionally cutting out at the end of a
loop. The noises of the Havana restaurant didn't help
the atmosphere - the performance lacked the strength
to overcome the competition of the chatting diners,
telephones and blenders in the background.
It seems Jayhmes bit off more than he could chew
with this undertaking. The production falls short of
grasping the fundamental style of Mamet's play.
American Buffalo has a lot to say. This company
too, has a lot to say it seems, but I ask myself, who is
serving whom? Is the play a platform for the actors, or
are the actors animators of the play? In this case, to
the misfortune of the production, it appeared to be the
former.
Mia Perry

By elaborating profusely and competently on the
gimmick, Rodgers and Sullivan quietly unhinge it
from a seriousness that may or may not be implicit in
such an undertaking. This show is obviously meant to
be divorced from any kind of heavy-handed concern

On Friday November 2, culminating over four
months of demolishing stereo cabinets, refrigerators,
washing machines etc, The Yellow Diablo wrestled, in
a Gastown glare of studio lights, a nearly invincible
rust coloured Camaro. When he started his stint as
microphone wrestler, his opponents were pretty soft:
chairs or other people who broke easily under his
strong touch. But this latest match brought the Diablo's
art away from the realm of the WWF and several steps
closer to the spectacle of Tiannamen Square. We were
a very large boisterous crowd, including many drunks
who later tried to join the fight, two city busses, and

some bewildered, righteously angry cops. While we
stood around figiting in anticipation, he warmed up
our brain-stems by pumping Back in Black through the
same amplifier that would broadcast the sound of his
soft flesh impacting the now retirement age shagmachine.
The first blow, only a few minutes behind schedule,
was a flying elbow against the pliable roof, bringing
cheers all around, and even an attempted wave. Then
he went viciously at the open left hand door, trying
unsuccessfully to pry it off with shoulder checks. The
car was tougher than he expected, and as the battle
ensued, and the microphones taped to his body were
gradually torn away, we realized that the act had progressed far beyond the need for the microphones; the
unamplified sound of his body slamming into metal
was quite horrible enough. Then he brought out the 12"
step-ladder, to torture or titillate us no one was sure.
On his first graceful leap out of the high, autumn-tinted treeline, the Diablo apparently forgot to use his limited stunt-man chops and landed with almost full force.
Even fans of "The Faces of Death" went pale. Yes, we
know who won the match, the car, but we also know
who's gonna be back for more, after maybe 6 weeks of
rest and 600 get well, cards.
Mathew Vine

comedy/dinner theatre. Thurs-Sat. 6:15pm , St Andrew's
Wesley. Tix $65/60 (plus s/c and fees, includes four course

Derek Sullivan. To Nov 24. Buschlen Mowatt Gallery 1445
West Georgia 604.682.1234 SOREL ETROG- To Nov 14.

350 East 2 Avenue 604.875.9516 Moon Base Gallery 227
Carrall 604.608.0913 www.moonbaseqallery.net Morris and

The Yellow Diablo
Access Gallery