If you want to know the difference between telling a story and seeing a story, find your way to Collar Works on River Street in Troy. There you will experience the immersive theater event, "The Prohibition Project: Ilium Was" It's presented by Troy Foundry Theatre and continues Thursday throuogh Sunday. It will transport you back to the 1920s.
On the ground level of this former industrial building a group of extremely talented actors create a number of scenes, many happening simultaneously, showing people who endured in a corrupt and unfeeling society. Through those highly stylized moments, you get a feel for a country that has lost its identity.
You will meet the politician who promises to make the city great again, a corrupt police captain, a blues singer, an Irish immigrant who was prepared by abuses of the IRA for the tough political life in Troy. There is a union leader, a young scrappy boxer, a Rabbi, a mill worker and, of course a gangster – amongst others.
You meet them individually and at other times see them interact with each other, mostly in two-person scenes. You hear the anti-Semitic slurs, threats to immigrants and the pleas for better working conditions and equality for all. And you understand that though set in the 1920s, the play is about today,
This is not a linear theatrical experience. It’s like attending an art exhibit. Andy Warhol comes to mind as he was the artist who most raised the act of voyeurism to the level of art.
In an art exhibit, and with “Prohibition,” you choose the piece or scene that interests you. When finished, you observe and select another piece. You keep repeating the process until you have experienced the whole body of work. Each experience may expand the understanding of the other – or not. The goal is eventually you will have a sense for the whole.
To the degree that happens depends of the skill of the curator, who arranges the individual pieces. At Troy Foundry that person is Brenna Geffers, a theater artist who has extraordinary vision and a gift of creativity. This event is a marvel of coordination as her direction channels the chaotic nature of this type of simultaneous theater into a whole.
Besides being gifted in stagecraft, Geffers is a nurturer of talent. Individually, each member of the cast is compelling and when they work as a group there is a coordinated sense of purpose that is dynamic. Bear in mind, in this immersive style of presentation the audience is often mere inches away from the face of the performer. The cast displays awesome focus and discipline.
This is a fascinating form of theater that is marvelously executed. However, there are problems. The space is segmented but open. Some scenes are more rambunctious than others and the sound from one bleeds into others making it difficult to hear. You walk from space to space. There are no chairs as you stand on a cement floor to watch the various scenes. About halfway through the hour and fifteen minute show it’s likely you may be looking to find a chair or some relief for your feet.
But that halfway mark is more than a physically tiring benchmark. It’s also about the time the mind starts to wander. Eventually, what was once a voyeuristic thrill, with the audience feeling invisible and ghost-like watching these people reveal their personal problems, things starts to feel repetitious. Too, without a defined plot or a central character with whom you can relate, the stakes never become high and personal involvement is lessened.
The experience is similar to how I feel after seeing a reenactment of a Revolutionary War or Civil War battle. I find myself transported to the era and am impressed with the dedication and ability of the reenactors. Too, I understand that even after those terrible battles the tragedy of war continues to this day. However, I always feel distanced by the battlefield deaths and am rarely touched by the experience on an emotional level.
That is essentially how I felt leaving “The Prohibition Project." The experience is a case of style winning over substance. But fortunately the style is brilliant.
“The Prohibition Project: Ilium Was” by Troy Foundry continues at Collar Works, 621 River Street, Troy Performances Thursday -Sunday March 14-17. For ticket information at troyfoundrytheatre.com
Bob Goepfert is theater reviewer for the Troy Record.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.
