Apollo Defies Gravity at Portland Center Stage

Keystone and Critical Mass Soar at the Gerding Theater

Mar 3, 2009

Apollo is a bold journey into Epic Theater. Portland Center Stage premieres "Liberation" the third part of Keystone and Critical Mass Performance Group's new play.

Critical Mass Performance Group and playwright Nancy Keystone take Oregonians on a journey that literally defies gravity with Apollo at Portland Center Stage. This theatrical exploration of the inner workings of physicists, activists and humanity is an incredible theatre composition of human experience. The play is beautiful. The three-part epic journey is courageous. It is an example of human intellectual achievement and theatrical flight.

The first act begins with the spark of knowledge an endless journey for new innovation and the image of human kind reaching for the sun. In Germany Arthur Rudolph is seen working tirelessly to come up with calculations while Von Braun woos Hitler, titillating him with talk of bombing London.

A wall of boxes is removed to reveal an entire room made of boxes. The slow tempo of the revelation of the rest of the stage reflects the slow revelation of the plays concept and ideas.

Epic Theater

Epic Theatrical productions are few and far between. Understanding the complexity of history and creating real innovative works necessitates pushing the limits of staging and scope. The use of comic relief allows the audience to breathe under the heavy weight of the tragedy being retold in front of them. The despair, innovation and humor inject the theater with life.

How does one shed light into one of the murkiest human contradictions in history? A nation that prides itself on being the land of the free founded on democracy is responsible for the importation and enslavement of people.

PCS hosted the premiere of Act III, “Liberation.” The act examines the choice of the American government to enlist Nazi-War criminals to fight the communists and land on the moon. It is incredible, inspirational and innovative. It needs to be focused, particularly the scene with former Alabama Governor George Wallace and the Minstrel Show, which both went on too long.

The Act addressed The Civil Rights movement and compared the difficulty of the reach for equality for all citizens in America to that of landing on the moon.

The use of the video of the launch of Apollo 11, projected onto the cotton ball-filled screen, is powerful and heart wrenching. Civil Rights leader Rev. Ralph Abernathy, is seen protesting the launch and its use of Government funds on the space race instead of Social Justice Issues. The image of all the spectators of the launch presents the relationship between moral and scientific achievement in America.

The Company demonstrated excellent prowess in ensemble movement, creating images through the use of gestures, repetition and tempo. The Actors worked well with the props, especially when interacting with the boxes in Act II. They fused dance, shadow, and the use of levels in a way that reinforced the dialogue. The actors brought the play to life with their own breath, movement, and beating hearts.

The play is extraordinary. Critical Mass and Keystone have achieved something that is truly innovative. An epic moon shot journey outward to the stars, which rockets deep into the heart of the Audience.

More About Apollo which ran January 13th to February 8th 2009 at Portland Center Stage:

The copyright of the article Apollo Defies Gravity at Portland Center Stage in North American Modern Theatre is owned by Brandon Custy. Permission to republish Apollo Defies Gravity at Portland Center Stage in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.