Fluke

Most experimental theater deals with a big question: how do you wake an audience up? When conventional theater companies tackle a literary adaptation of a novel designated a “classic,” they usually hope that the power of the artists will keep us from nodding off to a story we know too well. That’s problematic if the novel’s complicated and huge, like, say, Moby Dick; the two times I’ve seen a company tackle Melville’s baggy masterpiece, the results diminished the text into a sort of “yo-ho-ho” seafaring yarn instead of illuminating its themes of Man, God, and the eternal war of existence. So New York company Radiohole’s approach to Moby Dick makes a certain sort of sense. Their performance piece Fluke is a critical assault on the work, not a standard adaptation. Their captain “Abe” may still be after a white whale (he offers five bucks for anyone in the audience who can give it to him), but his approach includes everything from swinging cross the rigging to joining his other cast members in painting false eyes on their eyelids and performing the majority of the show with eyes shut. Their “throw it all at the stage and see what sticks” approach to experimental theatre is pretty much expected these days. But a lot of what they’re throwing sounds like it’s a blast—free beer and grog for audience members, the cast performing not only on stage but via iChat, and the use of an Audio Spotlight that allows the actors to “whisper” directly to certain audience members unheard by those sitting next to them are just a few of their innovations. New York critics seem impressed that the ten-year-old company may finally be growing up a bit, leavening their loud excess with some soft analysis. Still, the music’s loud and the theatrics are big, so if you’re attending, take a couple of metaphorical Dramamine; it’s bound to be a bumpy night. On the Boards, 100 W. Roy St., 217-9888, www.ontheboards.org. $24. 8 p.m. tonight through Sun., Jan. 13.
Jan. 10-13, 8 p.m., 2008