Review: SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE
By Toby Zinman
For the Inquirer
11th Hour Theatre Company bravely presents Michael John LaChiusa's complicated musical, See What I Wanna See. Based on short stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, translated from the Japanese by Takaski Kojima, the musical is grim, stylized, and highly theatrical . How three very disparate stories all fit together is a challenge to the audience. The title is, I think, the clue.
The "Rashomon effect" refers to Kurasawa's famous film about a rape and a murder in medieval Japan where different people provide differing accounts of the same horrific events. Point of view is all-important and truth is elusive: what happened? Who did what? When? And, most tenuous: why?
Each of the two acts begins with a Noh-like prologue with actors in traditional Japanese dress: in the first iteration, a woman intones her plans to murder her lover; in the second, a man speaks the same words.
The plot of noirish Act One is about a notorious gangster (Michael Philip O'Brien) who falls for a sexy blonde (Cara Noel Antosca) in a red dress; he lures her husband (Jake Blouch whose pinstriped presence and rich baritone are highlights of the show) into Central Park with the promise of buried treasure. The husband is murdered, although whether it was the gangster who killed him or the wife is unclear. There are several versions of what happened: the wife confesses, the gangster confesses, a janitor (the outstanding Billy Bustamante) explains, and a psychic (Nancie Sanderson) narrates the version that the husband provides from "the other side."
Act Two takes place in 21st century New York. LaChiusa wrote this only a few years after 9/11—it was first performed in 2005 when the catastrophe of 9/11 was a fresh wound on the public consciousness. Here the plot centers on a priest who has lost his faith (Bustamante is exceptionally good here —a subtle and sophisticated reading of the role). He creates what he thinks Is a hoax to reveal to people who are desperate to believe in some redemption, that God either has vanished or abandoned them. A Hollywood actress, a CPA-turned-lunatic, and an atheist aunt all express their fears and needs. When a tornado occurs as? instead of? the promised miracle, they all revert to their former sad cynicism. All except the priest whose faith is restored, although nobody else saw what he saw.
Because the plots—confusing as they already are--are largely sung through, understanding the lyrics is crucial but not always possible (especially a problem with Antosca's voice). The music is often atonally compelling, but the rhymes run to "booze/choose/use" for wit. The musicians, under Dan Kazemi's direction, are fine, and Megan Nicole O'Brien's direction manages to weave all these many threads together into a show.
======================
11th Hour Theatre Company at Christ Church Neighborhood Center, 20 N. American St. Through May 15. Tickets $ 11 -40.Information: ww.11thhourtheatrecompany.org or 267-987-9865.