Cynthia Hopkins’ "Accidental Nostalgia,"
now on stage at St. Ann’s Warehouse, is billed as an "operetta
about the pros and cons of amnesia."
But it is really an exploration of how we create ourselves through
what we choose to remember and what we choose to forget.
Hopkins, a Bessie award- and two-time Obie award-winner who has
written the book, composed the music and produced the show, stars
as Henrietta Bill, a neurologist and author suffering from psychogenic
amnesia who sings her way into the dark recesses of her past.
(She also plays the accordion, from time to time.)
Hopkins is ably directed by DJ Mendel, who obviously knows how
to make the irrational not only understandable, but in some eccentric
way, logical.
Returning to her hometown, Henrietta answers various mysteries
in her life: Who is her real father? Has she killed him? Is he
alive or dead? Has he abused her, and why? She also discovers,
after walking down a few blind alleys – and a trip to Morocco
– who she really is.
Hopkins’ sweet, simple, but highly evocative voice is backed
by her alt-country band, Gloria Deluxe, composed of trombone
and guitar (Curtis Hasselbring); drums (Kristin Mueller); bass
(Josh Stark); violin, guitar and spoons (Philippa Thompson);
and viola (Karen Waltuch).
Gloria Deluxe is a familiar band to Brooklynites who may have
seen their raucous sets at Celebrate Brooklyn, the BAMcafe and
Pete’s Candy Store.
The music the band plays is a subtle blending of country, blues
and jazz, with strains that sound like anything from Kurt Weill
to Klezmer. The lyrics have the down-and-out quality of blues
and the piercing poetry of Bob Dylan.
They abound with lines like: "It was like trying to catch
a dark cloud with a butterfly net/it was like trying to walk
across freshly fallen snow/without leaving tracks," or "I
must have rocks instead of a brain/I make the same mistakes again
and again/I get outta trouble just to get back in."
Although "Accidental Nostalgia" is basically a one-woman
show, Hopkins is supported onstage by two factotums (Jim Findlay
and Jeff Sugg) dressed in the funky vest-over-bare-chest attire
usually associated with musicians or DJs, or a Bob Fosse revue.
They occasionally dance with her, or throw her a change of clothing,
or interact with her in a very sensual manner.
Hopkins is also backed by a videoscape, created by designers
Findlay and Sugg, diagrams and pictures displayed on a suspended
screen. The video of her father, played by real life dad John
Hopkins, reading his explanatory and exculpatory letter is particularly
effective and affecting.
Kristen Lapham and Tara Webb have dressed Hopkins in clothing
that is bizarre, to say the least. For some reason, she wears
kneepads, bandages on her hands and a kind of tunic over a jacket.
At one point she strips and stands naked before the audience,
then dresses in new clothing, to clearly demonstrate that she
has taken on another identity.
Which brings us to nudity on stage – seldom necessary, rarely
justified, always eclipsing every other aspect of a production.
It’s too bad this one act of self-indulgence mars an otherwise
perfect performance.
In fact, despite the utter, shocking weirdness that characterizes
much of this show, all of its elements seem perfectly in place
and perfectly appropriate. Such is the genius of "Accidental
Nostalgia’s" conception and execution.
"Accidental Nostalgia" is the kind of theater that
does for the stage what the Big Bang did for the universe – create
an explosive chain reaction that keeps producing light and life
and is capable of infinite transformation.
"Accidental Nostalgia" plays through April 4, Thursday
through Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 7 pm at St. Ann’s Warehouse,
38 Water St. at Dock Street in DUMBO. Tickets are $25. For tickets
or more information, call (718) 254-8779 or visit www.artsatstanns.org
or www.Ticketweb.com.
