`WATTS' PROJECT NO TOWERING ACHIEVEMENT.Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic Of the four one-act plays that make up the Kirk Douglas Theatre's ``Solomania!'' repertory festival, ``The Watts Towers Watts Towers, group of folk-art towers in the Watts section of Los Angeles. The complex was built (1921–54) single-handedly by the self-taught Italian immigrant Simon Rodia (also spelled Rodilla, 1879–1965). Project'' is the only entry without a title or a listed director. Which is probably deliberate. The work, by playwright/performer Roger Guenveur Smith Roger Guenveur Smith (born July 27, 1959) is an American writer, director, and actor. Smith was born in Berkeley, California, the son of Helen, a dentist, and Sherman Smith, a judge. , feels very much like a free-form work-in-progress rumination rumination /ru·mi·na·tion/ (roo?mi-na´shun) 1. the casting up of the food to be chewed thoroughly a second time, as in cattle. 2. . On what subject, exactly? Well, many things are thrown into Smith's rather gaping stew and set to boil: Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , race relations and identity. There's the conflict between Giant player Juan Marichal and Dodger Johnny Roseboro. Also, the Watts Riots, Jean-Michel Basquiat and -- perhaps most principally -- Simon Rodia, the Italian immigrant who built those now-historic structures that serve as Smith's metaphor and point of departure. It doesn't necessarily require a title, but Smith's piece -- first read during Center Theatre Group's New Work Festival in 2005 -- could certainly use the shaping that a second or third set of critical eyes might afford it. Smith the performer is an engaging enough stage presence for short stints, but there's nothing brief or consistently compelling about ``The Watts Tower Project.'' It's not simply the throw-it-against-the-wall waywardness that drags ``Watts Tower'' into the ooze OOZE - Object oriented extension of Z. "Object Orientation in Z", S. Stepney et al eds, Springer 1992. . It's the plodding portentousness of the piece, the huge reliance on repetition of sound (Mark Anthony Thompson is the composer) and image that neither entertains nor enlightens. In his globe-spanning trek from Brooklyn to South Africa to South Central, Smith isn't effective in telling an L.A. story -- be it Rodia's or his own. Those crazy towers certainly beckon beck·on v. beck·oned, beck·on·ing, beck·ons v.tr. 1. To signal or summon, as by nodding or waving. 2. -- via the video projections by Daniel Foster and EyeAwake Studios -- but Smith does little to bring them to us or us to them. Evan Henerson, (818) 713-3651 evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com THE WATTS TOWER PROJECT - One and one half stars Where: 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. , 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City. When: 9 p.m. Saturday, 8 p.m. Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. June 10 and 11. Tickets: $20 to $40. (213) 628-2772 or visit www.ctgla.org In a nutshell: Pompous, endless and endlessly pompous. |
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