Are you troubled by the outcome of the
2000 presidential election? Are you concerned about oil drilling
in Alaska? Do you believe giant corporations and HMOs have too
much power?
If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, or if you just
enjoy great satiric humor, you won’t want to miss Theater for
the New City’s 25th annual street production, "The Patients
Are Run- ning the Asylum."
Written and directed by Crystal Field, who is also executive
director of Theater for the New City, "The Patients Are
Running the Asylum" searches for sanity in a world corrupted
by greed. The villains are people like George W. Bush, Rudolph
Giuliani, Dick Cheney and all those politicians who "head
south" when it comes to "doing something real."
The heroes are Professor Midlife (Mark Marcante), a kindly, much-loved
professor; and Alpha (Craig Meade) a large dog who was once one
of the professor’s prized students. Having graduated from City
College, Alpha turns to his old professor for an explanation
of the meaning of life.
Joseph-Vernon Banks has provided Field with a score of catchy,
upbeat tunes that has both the glitz of Broadway and the soul
of the streets. It’s musical comedy at its effervescent best,
only marching to a different drummer. Villains and heroes alike
dance, sing and cavort in a most entertaining manner. However,
without corporate backing, one cannot imagine it on the Great
White Way.
"If we first feed the face, and house and clothe the human
race, and give each child an education, we won’t need behavior
modification," the professor sings.
"Where’s our place in the scheme of things?" his students
ask.
Alpha takes the subway to Midlife’s house, only to find the police
arresting the professor because of his unorthodox views. He decides
he must rescue his beloved teacher. Alpha’s search takes him
to Bellevue, the Supreme Court, the Pentagon and the boardroom
of a major oil company. He finds doctors in the hands of the
HMOs, the president chained to the oil company and the Supreme
Court justices devoid of any idea of the meaning of justice.
"Dying won’t get you covered any faster," the doctor
says to one of the many patients he throws out of the hospital
for lack of insurance.
"This is America. You think that just because you have the
most votes you win?" hecklers are told when they harass
the justices.
Eventually, Alpha’s search leads him to the Dog Eat Dog Cafe,
where a lip-synching transvestite holds court. This may or may
not be a political statement, but it certainly adds to the prevailing
mood of hilarity.
Giuliani (played by Kila Packett) takes some of Field’s sharpest
barbs. He looks on while his wife and mistress duke it out and
he is thrown out of Gracie Mansion. Perhaps to get even, he sets
up a decency board, which destroys a classic painting piece by
piece as it removes objectionable content. But Giuliani’s arch
foe, Al Sharpton (Michael-David Gordon) doesn’t escape unscathed
either. He is depicted in a jail cell, fresh from his fast (protesting
the bombing of Vieques) and very hungry.
The antic plot and pace of "The Patients Are Running the
Asylum" are given a tremendous boost by Field’s zany staging.
Actors disappear beneath trap doors, dress in outlandish costumes
and masks, and romp across the stage in a freewheeling style
that is nonetheless tightly choreographed. A 9-foot by 12-foot
running screen or "cranky," designed by Mary Blanchard,
and movable flats by cartoonist Walter Gurbo provide an ever-changing
setting for the actors.
Presented in the city’s streets and parks, "The Patients
Are Running the Asylum" asks the audience to take the issues,
if not to the streets, back to the community, where "people
power" can make this country once again, or perhaps for
the first time, safe for the common man and woman – the very
people on Field’s stage – black, white, Asian, tall, short, slim,
heavy, young and old.
"We hold the future in our hands," they all proclaim.
After the fun, they call for action.
"The Patients Are Running the Asylum"
will be performed in Brooklyn Aug. 12, at Herbert Von King Park
(Lafayette and Tompkins avenues) in Bedford-Stuyvesant at 2 pm;
Aug. 17 at 1000 Surf Ave. and West 10th on the boardwalk at 8
pm; and on Aug. 25 at the Oriental Pavilion in Prospect Park
(enter at Ocean Avenue and Lincoln Road) at 2 pm. Additional
performances in the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island and Manhattan.
All performances are free and open to the public. For more information,
call (212) 254-1109 or visit www.theaterforthenewcity.com.
