Reviewed by James Karas
Annie Baker’s The
Aliens is an absurd play that presents three “aliens” who have
contradictory traits, are perhaps geniuses who speak in virtually illiterate
sentences and have difficulty forming relationships with people. When you see
the play you may come to these conclusions or form any number of other views as
you listen to the meandering dialogues and try follow the plot. Plot? There is
very little of it and it does not develop in logical sequence and you may
consider it as a play in which nothing happens. That’s not true, of course.
What do you see?
The play is set on the rundown patio behind a restaurant. There is picnic
table, a couple of plastic chairs and garbage bins. KJ (William Greenblatt), a
bearded young man and Jasper (Noah Reid), another young man, may well be
trespassing on the patio which is not intended for the public.
Will Greenblatt,
Maxwell Haynes, Noah Reid photo by Tim Leyes
There are lengthy
pauses between the short sentences of their conversation as if they are
searching for the right words to express themselves. But when the reply
consists of a single word you realize that deep thinking is not the reason for
the delay. They do not belong to “our” world.
There are clues
about who these people are. KJ sings that he is a Martian masterpiece from
another dimension and a three-dimensional superstar. Like Jasper and Evan
(Maxwell Haynes), a seventeen-year old youngster who works in the restaurant,
he does not seem to have developed a meaningful relationship with anyone.
Evan is pathetic
and his favourite or most frequently used word is “cool.” He meets a girl at a
camp and he may develop a relationship with her but that, like everything else
in the play, is opaque.
Among the almost
incessant pauses which take a good part of the play, there are some flashes of
humour and dramatic moments of raised emotions but they are the exception. At
times I felt I was watching Waiting for Godot in reverse. Instead
of Vladimir and Estragon waiting for someone to arrive, it was the audience
waiting for something to happen.
Will Greenblatt,
Maxwell Haynes, Noah Reid photo by Tim Leyes
Many things do
happen but they are in the nuances of the characters, the events that they
relate, the subtext and in the very pauses and awkward utterances that make up
the play.
Mitchell Cushman
directs this subtle, slow play that demands rapt attention and is not always easy
to follow. In the end it is intriguing and will leave you scratching your head
trying to figure out the aliens of the title. Try to unravel the following
questions: who, how, what and why referring to the people in the play and have
a look in the mirror while doing it.
Pause.
______
The
Aliens by Annie
Baker continues until October 8, 2017 at the Coal Mine
Theatre, 1454 Danforth Ave. Toronto, M4J 1N4. www.coalminetheatre.com
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