'APOLLO' ONE GIANT LEAP FOR STAGECRAFT.Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic IF THERE WERE an award for best use of boxes in a theatrical presentation, Nancy Keystone's ``Apollo'' would take it hands down. Or should we say, flaps down? The first act of the performance art/kaleidoscope piece courtesy of Keystone's Critical Mass Performance Group ends with a burst of light and a curtain coming down to reveal hundreds upon hundreds of stacked file boxes packed high to the rafters. After intermission, those boxes have been moved to create a fortresslike wall across the front of the stage. Gradually, they get shifted again. And restacked. It's a deliberate bit of staging and it works magnificently. We have moved from a story focusing on highly technical people looking toward the skies to the inside of a huge, claustrophobic space where a kind of inquisition is taking place. The same German scientists who helped get America to the moon are now under investigation for their ties to the Nazi party Nazi Party German political party of National Socialism. Founded in 1919 as the German Workers' Party, it changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers' Party when Adolf Hitler became leader (1920–21). . Bulldog-ish Nazi hunter A Nazi hunter is a private individual or group who tracks down and gathers information on former Nazis so that they can be punished for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Holocaust. Eli Rosenbaum Eli M. Rosenbaum (b. 1955) is the director of the U.S. DOJ Office of Special Investigations (OSI) since 1995. He came to the Department through the Honors Program after his graduation from Harvard Law School in 1980. sets his sights on bringing down rocket man Arthur Rudolph Arthur Louis Hugo Rudolph (9 November 1906 – 1 January 1996) was a rocket engineer for Nazi Germany who helped develop and produce the V-2 rocket. After World War II he was brought to the United States and worked for the Army and NASA where he managed the development of . Given the complexity of the issues in play, this is no easy assignment. ``Apollo'' is essentially two plays - pre-moon shot and aftermath - with wildly different styles and intentions. The scientists of Act 1, led by Wernher von Braun Noun 1. Wernher von Braun - United States rocket engineer (born in Germany where he designed a missile used against England); he led the United States Army team that put the first American satellite into space (1912-1977) , are presented in a trippy collage of story, visuals and movement. Austin Switser's video images projected against a white backdrop sets the scene as artfully as anything this shape-shifting ensemble says or does. Act 2 is tighter, more focused on character and follows a more conventional dramatic structure. We're still time-hopping and beings are wandering through the proceedings as if dreamed up by characters. But the fact that the focus has moved to Rosenbaum vs. Rudolph (with von Braun's legacy also potentially on the chopping block) gives the previously dreamy ``Apollo'' a new sense of urgency. What will be discovered in those boxes? Or stashed away? Visually and dramatically, ``Apollo'' is a thinker, a challenging, morphing Transforming one image into another; for example, a car into a tiger. The term comes from metamorphosis. Morphing programs work by marking prominent points, such as tips and corners, of the before and after images. beast that is not in the least bit easy to pin down. Keystone - the play's writer, director and set designer - and her versatile seven-person cast have pushed the Kirk Douglas Theatre The Kirk Douglas Theatre is located in Culver City, California and in 2004, was acquired by the famed Center Theatre Group. The theatre is the most intimate of the groups 3 stages and seats 317 patrons at max occupancy. to its experimental limits, and the results are well worth viewing. This ``Apollo,'' by the way, is Part 1, subtitled ``Lebensraum le·bens·raum n. 1. Additional territory deemed necessary to a nation, especially Nazi Germany, for its continued existence or economic well-being. 2. Adequate space in which to live, develop, or function. ,'' which refers to the Hitlerian concept of expanded territory. Here's hoping Keystone and Critical Mass are working on Part 2. And that they'll bring their boxes along for the ride. Evan Henerson, (818) 713-3651 evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com APOLLO - PART 1: LEBENSRAUM - Three and one half stars Where: Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City Culver City, city (1990 pop. 38,793), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1917. It is a center of the U.S. motion-picture industry, whose roots in the city date to c.1915. Its chief manufactures are rubber products and computers. . When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday; through July 3. Tickets: $19 to $40. Call (213) 628-2772. In a nutshell: Nancy Keystone and her Critical Mass Performance Group shoot for the moon. And they get there. |
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