http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/open_circle_theater/Location?oid=24288 Comments On: Open Circle Theater en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Sun, 19 May 2013 03:45:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
The playful demeanor of these eight short works suggests that Longenbaugh has returned to the tarot’s original purpose as playing cards for gamblers. The taking of risk is a theme that runs throughout: The current Empress of the Roman Empire takes a chance on speed dating. A frazzled woman risks asking a weird neighbor to turn down the volume on a recording of love-making noises. A conservationist challenges her own tolerance by dating a game hunter. The circumstances are only mildly dangerous, with results that range from beguiling to frankly hilarious.

One of the best pieces is a tableau which recreates Manet’s “Lunch on the Grass,” and not only because the painting’s famously inexplicable nude is fully and exquisitely rendered. Within this scene of perpetually framed bliss one of those fully clothed men has a very hard time reconciling his frozen happiness with the natural consequence of letting his wife sunbathe in full view of his best friend. The author’s trust in dry wit instead of obvious sex jokes produces a sense of off-kilter bewilderment within a tenuously balanced universe. It’s as though the little nail holding up that Manet is about to bend and let go.

The evening’s tarot reading ends with a mysterious coda on the cosmic seashore, an open-ended reverie on the limits of love and memory. It’s a fitting trump, a subtle alchemy which transforms a bad hand into a hopeful one.

Please don’t pass up the chance to see “Arcana” at Open Circle Theater while the cards are still on the table.

Open Circle Theater
Rating: 5 Stars
Posted by CSpoke]]> Sat, 11 Sep 2010 01:09:08 -0700 The Stranger