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Magician

nytheatre.com review by Judith Jarosz
August 15, 2005

I have a fondness for magic and illusion. For most of us, as children, from the first moment some relative pulls a quarter from behind our ear at a family gathering, we are hooked to some degree. In Magician, an eerie play for two women written by Katherine Knowles, we are treated to various enjoyable illusions throughout (nicely coached by Illusion Design & Magic Coach Nelson Lugo), but the point of the piece is confusing.Although in general magicians are typically thought of as male, the lead in this play is a female named simply The Magician. As portrayed by Amy Landecker, The Magician slinks around the stage with a sensual confidence while performing magic and tells us a story of hiring three successive assistants, all female. Landecker’s character relays how empowering magic is for her, and how she hopes to help other females find that empowerment. But with each assistant something eventually goes wrong in the magician / assistant relationship.Jenn Remke is versatile and believable as three very different assistants. The first two—Jennifer, a groupie, who is obsessed not only with magic, but with The Magician herself; and Jayne, the dowdy librarian, who blossoms into a extravert of frightening proportions—have both been hurt by men in their lives. The Magician feels she can help them with their confidence, but in both cases, it backfires. The third assistant, Morgana, claims never to have been hurt by a man. With Morgana, The Magician seems to have finally found a well-adjusted, focused professional who should work out wonderfully. But, as with the others, something changes, and another power struggle ensues. Without giving too much away, The Magician manages to remove the first two assistants from her life, but hits a roadblock with the third.Landecker has some nice moments as an actor (there is a disturbing flashback in a deserted amusement park that is very intense) but other than that scene, I find it hard to have much sympathy for this somewhat ruthless character. While the piece seems to want to support powerful women, it also seems to say that powerful women cannot find enough common ground to function effectively together.The simple set by Seth Easter works effectively, and there are some very nice lighting and sound effects by Joel E. Silver and Jeffrey Scott Benish. The costumes by Robert Strong Miller are attractive and well thought out, and director Todd Lundquist keeps the action flowing smoothly. Although the production is interesting to watch, in the end I am left feeling that Magician is not empowering for men or women.