In the battle for the soul of an artist, who wins?

The Cuttlefish or the Hyrcanian Worldview

Beauty and violence; the seduction of love, or power, or art itself. The Cuttlefish as brought to life under the visionary direction of Nicole Weisner, is an absurdist masterpiece, winging from deep philosophy and alighting into a world of extraordinary, and hilarious, surreality.

As is signature for a Trap Door production, when the house opens the event is already in motion. Here the audience walks into the striking juxtaposition of living sculptures and desecrated paintings. Almost hidden behind the classically posing figures is a form slumped against the wall, defeated, seemingly having barely survived an almost mortal blow.

So begins The Cuttlefish or the Hyrcanian Worldview, written by Stanislaw Witkiewicz, translated by Daniel Gerould and directed by Trap Door’s Managing Director, Nicole Wiesner. Witkiewicz is one of Trap Door’s favored playwrights, an undeniably brilliant artist of the European avant-garde. The Cuttlefish is an excellent example of Witkiewicz’s criticism of mass culture and the rise of totalitarianism, in the form a wildly non-realistic piece of theater – that just might have been fueled by his adventures into the world of recreational substances.

Nicole Wiesner directs and stars in this jarring fever dream, building on a long history with Trap Door that began in 1999. Her storied resume includes directorial and acting credits on some of the theater’s most celebrated productions, as well as an After Dark Award for Outstanding Performance for her role in Passion Play at the Goodman. As the embattled artist, Pawel Rockoffer, Weisner brings a sardonic gruffness perfectly expressed in her whiskey voice and rough demeanor. Weisner is at her greatest in her monologues pleading with every particle of her being for the supremacy and core essential need for artists dedicated to Art, not worldly success.

Trap Door’s Artistic Director David Lovejoy delivers another powerhouse performance as King Hyrcan IV, the uber man and would-be tyrant. Lovejoy is renowned for hir many past roles with Trap Door, including the recent production of Galileo for which ze was a Jeff nominee for Actor in Principal Role. In the second half Lovejoy bursts onto the stage, glorious in red leather, gold accents everywhere, and the flavor of the production is transformed. Drunk on power (and maybe some nose candy), Hyrcan plies Pawel with promises of the ultimate greatness – power! money! respect! – and all Pawel has to do is never, ever, create art again. Lovejoy sparkles, bizarrely larger than life but entirely genuine, whether philosophizing, or song-and-dancing, or exposed as the sniveling child buried under the outrageous aggrandizement.

The mysterious muse and mistress Statue of Alice d’Or (Keith Surney) is a living work of art, posing in exquisitely sculpted form, coolly removed while managing to seduce both artist and king. Surney’s aloof energy fits perfectly with this pedestaled beauty’s role, conveying a cold detachment that cracks just enough to shoot occasional fire at her target. At the same time, Surney brings a seductive heat to his interactions with the others, melting into various embraces. Surney is well known to Trap Door enthusiasts, and this role is another opportunity to celebrate him.

Ella (Gus Thomas) is a winsome delight, at once farcical and heartfelt as Pawel’s indefatiguable fiancee. Thomas gives us an Ella that is almost eternally optimistic, starring in a love story of her own making, living with a dedication to her love that is beyond rebuke. As written this role could have been a two-dimensional misogynistic aside. Instead, Thomas’s Ella is an even truer acolyte to her deity – Love – than Pawel proves to his Art; she believes, she hopes, and she cannot be dissuaded. Thomas embraces the farce, the ludicrous, the laughs, without ever dropping Ella’s inner light that he makes genuine.

Emily Lotspeich (Pope Julius II) and Venice Averyheart (Mother I/II) are Trap Door Company Members. Lotspeich’s Pope has a whimsical, slightly deluded quality made all the more intriguing when she steps off her pedestal to go on the attack. Averyheart, who boasts several Jeff nominations for Ensemble work, takes her cameo Mother roles and whips them into a delicious comic froth while creating an additional layer of surreality. She gives life to the sound design throughout, and has one of the best throwaway lines that she hits absolutely out of the park.

Sound design and composition by Danny Rockett adds to the power of every moment. Many productions have attempted to create an ethereal echo for deific characters, but Rockett – through some divine powers of his own – has succeeded. Rockett’s designs layer magic into the surreal, and emotion into the bizarre. It is no wonder he won the Jeff Award for Original Composition for How to Explain the History of Communism to Mental Patients.

The creative team is stellar throughout. Merje Veski’s Scenic Design is minimalist for the open space, gorgeously powerful and eminently effective for use and theme. Costume Design by Rachel Sypniewski is bold and evocative. Richard Norwood paints beautifully as Lighting Designer, and the choreography by Miguel Long are fantastic exploits.

This production has the philosophy on a pedestal for the first half – literally and figuratively. Grand speeches are pronounced in classic exposition. The passion, the unpredictability, and the hijinks pick up in the second half of this one act play. Supernatural powers send the unwitting characters into paroxysms. Sultry couplings form, and re-form. Inexplicable dance numbers erupt. Chaos and hilarity reign.

If you need to see Art triumph and tyrants fall – and who doesn’t these days – don’t miss Trap Door’s Cuttlefish.

Recommended

Reviewed by Soleil Rodrigue

The Cuttlefish, or the Hyrcanian Worldview presented by The Trap Door Theatre, now through April 25, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 PM with matinees Sunday 4/12 and 4/19 at 3:00 PM. All shows are at The Trap Door Theatre, Chicago

Tickets are $32 with two for one admission on Thursdays, and may be purchased by visiting TrapDoorTheatre.com.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com