Regional

The Wild Party

 (Theater Artaud, San Francisco; 280 seats; $ 15 top)

By DENNIS HARVEY

A Shadowlight Prods. presentation of a performance in one act, based on a poem by Joseph Moncure March. Produced by Larry Reed and Veronika Hausle. Directed by Reed.
 
Cast: Leon Kassapides, Christy Sowers, Anne Goldmann, Michael Lopez, Dennis Matthews, Carol Bach-y-Rita, Larry Reed.
 

Larry Reed's Shadowlight Prods. is proving extraordinarily innovative in adapting traditional Far Eastern shadow-puppet techniques to a very Western notion of stage spectacle. The ideal narrative vehicle, however, remains elusive. Where last year's "In Xanadu" sprawled to a fault, Reed's new project draws on literary material that undermines a purely visual package. Reed's remarkable craft has yet to find a breakthrough package.

"The Wild Party" was written by Joseph Moncure March in 1926. The classic "underground" poem was recently republished in book form, illustrated by "Maus" creator Art Spiegelman. It's a hard-boiled paean to Jazz Age decadence. Nearpornographic by that era's standards, the "syncopated" verse chronicles a day in the life of gorgeous Queenie ("She was blond/And her age stood still/And she danced twice a day in vaudeville"), live-in lover of stage "clown of renown" Burrs.

Breaking up their coitus at knife-point, petulant Queenie demands superior stimulus. That night's resultant orgiastic party in their apartment grants her plenty. Amid various lesbian seductions, gay male slapfests, et al., Queenie's flirting leads toward an expected outcome -- gunplay decides the "winner" between jealous Burrs and "well-bred" rival suitor Black.

The text's misanthropic stereotypes now sport a droll "period" tenor. (Reed has dropped some racial references that would date less pleasantly.) Yet their cynical wit here goes only so far as narrative stage fodder: There's too little action, too much psychological description. We're ready for the windup long before these 70 minutes run out.

Adding to a monochrome effect, Reed's nasal narrator and the additional vocal actors don't summon much cynical bravado. (They're also somewhat buried in the Theater Artaud mix, playing second fiddle to Bruce Forman's slinky if not particularly dramatic live jazz score.)

Inexpressive design for the cutout face masks -- one element here that still clings to Balinese models -- further dulls character impact.

Still, there's a great deal of eye-filling invention in "The Wild Party." Dramatic depth-perspectives and smooth "wipes" between scenes fill the 30-by-15 -foot screen. Actors' undulating limbs, shifting backdrops, champagne glasses and smoking candles create a seedy B&W glamour more beholden to later film noir than 1920s imagery. There are moments that are deliciously flip, like the early one in which shoes keep dropping floorward from Queenie and Burrs' much-used bed.

With more text cuts and sharper vocal interps, "The Wild Party" might yet sustain the "gaudy taste of hell" tenor it currently wears thin. It's certainly a step forward for Reed, turning his craft to ends more "adult" and less strictly Eastern-derived than hitherto. When he finds the right vessel, Shadowlight Prods. should take its rightful place among the globe's most striking multidisciplinary ensembles.

Mask and puppet design, Hugo Martinez; set/highting, Matthew Antaky, Tim Smith. Music, Bruce Forman; sound, Miguel Frasconi; stage manager, Fred Johnson. Opened, reviewed June 9, 1995. Running time: 1 HOUR 10 MIN.