Review: RoboPop! by Washington Ensemble Theatre. Directed by Heidi Ganser & Ben Zamora. Featuring Libby Matthews, Jillia Pessenda, Hannah Victoria Franklin. Thursday-Monday at 7:30pm, now through May 10 at Washington Ensemble Theatre, 608 19th Avenue East.
I love live theatre. I love new productions of classic works. I love new productions of new works too, but I’m always a bit trepidatious before seeing the show. With a known, established work you can read the play, or see a filmed version, or check out clips on YouTube, or do a little online research to find out what it’s all about and what other people think of it. With a brand, spanking new play, none of those options are available; you go into it blind, which is exciting and a bit daunting. Will it be a revelatory experience or pure dreck? I am very happy to report that WET’s production of their new, “ensemble generated” work, RoboPop! is a long, long way from dreck and has firmly planted itself in the heavenly sphere. RoboPop! is an exciting, charming, brilliantly designed and performed piece of alternative theater and a must see event for anyone who loves innovative and original live theater. You need to immediately click on this link and book your tickets; the WET theatre is NOT large and your preferred nights could easily sell out…go…do it NOW!
But, I will say that RoboPop! is sort of difficult to describe without making it sound trite. WET describes the show as:
An exuberant kaleidoscope of pop that follows one woman’s heroic quest to save the human race in an epic battle of Man vs. Robot where love is her downfall and ultimate savior. Conceived and directed by veteran Ensemble designers Heidi Ganser and Ben Zamora and created by the Ensemble, this performance piece delivers imaginative and heartfelt storytelling like only Washington Ensemble Theatre can.
That is a simple and accurate synopsis, but what does it really mean? I went into the show last Saturday sort of expecting a traditional narrative play with characters and dialogue and some action and plots and sub-plots and a beginning, middle and an end. But, what you really get is a narrative rock ballet/long form MTV music video/70’s concept album a la Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust” or The Who’s “Tommy”. There is no dialogue but there is plenty of sound; an almost constant soundtrack of music and sound effects. The characters have no names. We quickly meet a spunky, young girl with a bad-ass attitude, (Libby Matthews in a funny, charming, snarky and “Buffy-esque” performance) and her posse of BFF’s out on the prowl in their pastels and acid wash listening to their Ipods. Soon after, this teen posse runs into a gang of black clad, helmet headed robots and there is your standard culture clash; in the world that WET has created, there is definitely a robot/human standoff in the future for mankind. But not all robots, and not all humans, are the same and the suspicious-at-first “Buffy” finds herself charmed by a sweet, med tech robot (Jillia Pessenda, firmly in touch with her inner Chaplin and a touch of WALL-e,) who prefers stopping to smell the flowers to karate chopping foolish humans. But, human/robot tensions are mounting which eventually leads to the angered human queen, (the statuesque Hannah Victoria Franklin, channeling a Kabuki/Vivienne Westwood inspired Sigourney Weaver) to declare war on the robots and drafting all young humans into her robot-crushing army. Our heroine “Buffy” reluctantly joins up but then starts to enjoy the circuit-breaking action until she meets up with her Flowerbot friend…love blooms between them, in a chastely, wholesome sort of way, until the follies of war intrude upon them and tear them apart. Will love conquer all, or will hate and bigotry seize the day? Better yet, will a spontaneous disco/rave/lovefest break out with balloons, confetti and teddy-bear fights that will manage to unite Man and Robot in a world of peace and harmony? I sure hope so…
Everything about this show is a delight but attention must be paid, first and foremost, to the brilliant work of the design team. WET is not a wealthy theater company yet they manage to do incredibly original and complicated work. The lighting by Amiya Brown and Evan Anderson is complicated, intense, multi-layered and an integral part of the show…it also must have taken many, many hours to design and hang those lights. It is the best lighting job I’ve seen on a Seattle stage this year and one of the best I’ve ever seen from a small theater company. Brendan Hogan’s music and sound design stands on its own as a piece of art; I would PAY to own a copy of the soundtrack, it’s that good. Andrea Bryn Bush’s techno-rave set design is simplicity itself, yet manages to be balance the beautiful with the austere and the menacing. The costumes by Heidi Ganser and Ayako Yamada, range from the witty charms of the pastel clad human kids, fresh out of a Mentos commercial, to the menacing black commando look of the robots to the witty, tongue in cheek regality of the Human Queen’s teddy-bear dress. Props seldom get a shout out in theatre reviews, but Clare Strasser has masterfully created a number of original and unusual, vaguely futuristic props that are vital to the show’s success and sense of heightened fantastic realism. And, finally, Seattle filmmaker and actor Wes Hurley’s video projections are professionally shot and edited components of the story, incorporating stock footage with newly shot footage involving the actors. It is seamlessly integrated into the show for a truly multi-media experience and the many, many hours of work involved in their creation are all well represented on the stage. I couldn’t imagine the show without their presence.
Last but not least, shout outs to the directors, Heidi Ganser and Ben Zamora for their professional blending of the many design elements in this show with the carefully crafted and choreographed performances of the actors as well as to Ellie Sandstrom as the choreography consultant. The entire show is essentially a rock ballet so the contributions of the these three are vital to the show’s success.
And, as for the actors, they all shine. This is very much an ensemble show, and half the cast is covered in robot masks, but each and every actor is able to convey specific personalities and emotions for each individual character regardless of costume or the lack of any dialogue. It is a tour de force for the actors and it’s exciting to see them using their bodies and facial expressions to convey all the emotion and meaning of the characters and the text. I mentioned the three “leads” up above, and they all shine, but the work of the ensemble, John Abramson, Noah Benezra, Ali el-Gasseir, Mary Bliss Mather, Erin Pike and Mickey Rowe is equal to their contributions and equally worthy of praise.
Yes, I’m being a bit gushy, but I really liked the show and it’s one that everyone can enjoy. (It’s a perfect show for theater lovers to drag their non-theater loving friends to…you might end up hooking them as life-time theatre nerds…) I encourage you to check it out but you do need to be aware this is a short show; a little over an hour. It’s worth every penny, but you do leave the theatre thinking, “Is that it? I want MORE!” and a trifle paranoid that you might be leaving at intermission. RoboPop! is playing now through May 10 at WET. Top cast photo by Laurie Clark Photography. Bottom image is painting by Eric Joyner.
About the Author: Michael Strangeways
