FringeNYC 2013: Gertrude Stein Saints

Review by David Fuller · August 9, 2013

Gertrude Stein SAINTS! is an exuberantly entertaining, skillfully sung elision of two of Stein’s major poetic works, Four Saints in Three Acts and Saints and Singing. Conceived at Carnegie Mellon University originally as two separate student projects, this FringeNYC production is the product of some very talented folks at the University who saw the potential in what had been accomplished and thought to take it to a professional level here in New York. They were certainly correct in their assessment. Gertrude Stein SAINTS! is a wonderful theatrical event, featuring high caliber singing and choreography that skillfully and intelligently maximizes the talents of the entire ensemble.

Gertrude Stein, an early 20th Century painter and author renowned not only for her own work, but for her friendships with modernist writers such as Earnest Hemingway and Virgina Woolf and painters such as Matisse and Picasso, promoted the avant garde and evoked a Modernist approach to her own work. Stein’s Saints texts are beacon examples of her efforts to capture the essence of the American spoken language. She uses words in her librettos as a painter would use brush strokes in a painting. And, it could be argued, just as one should best experience a Seurat masterpiece by stepping away from the pointillist’s work and letting the piece wash over you, so should you openly experience the Saints texts, in the moment, letting whatever meanings come to you as it happens.

The Ellen Stewart Theater is a perfect venue to experience this production and the entire team, calling themselves Theatre Plastique, makes great use of the space, which happily accommodates the choreography of the thirteen cast members. According to the promotional materials, the entire production was a group effort of the performers (Chante Adams, Denee Benton, Veladya Chapman, Molly Griggs, Amanda Leigh Jerry, Johari Mackey, Mitch Marois, Jimmy Nicholas, Jordan Phillips, Carter Redwood, Kelsey Tarantino, Joe Ventricelli, and Jacob Vine) under the guidance of director Michelle Sutherland, with the help of assistant directors Lauren Adleman and Jordan Harrison and dramaturg Emma McFarland.

I was astounded by the immense amount of work that must have gone into this production. Starting only with the text and Stein’s suggestion that it be a “Text to be sung,” Theatre Plastique has created an array of song and movement pieces, utilizing a variety of American singing and movement styles, from doo wop to disco, with country, gospel, rock and rap elements as well, all sung a capella with only occasional guitar accompaniment, in sometimes breathtaking close harmony. Clearly, these are all fine vocal musicians, who sing fearlessly with, thankfully, no pitch pitfalls, and their movement is equally compelling, using an astonishing amount of choreography that is well executed.

A shout out must go to the design team: Erik Larson designed costumes in a white motif specific to each performer, with just a hint of gold to suggest a “saint-ness” about them; Grace Min designed a set that defines the space without calling attention to itself, keeping the performers in focus; Justin Keenan Miller’s lights and Jordan Harrison’s media design gleefully added enrichment to the whole. In addition, Rachel Piero somehow stage managed it all and called all the cues to this impressive production with nary a glitch – no small feat under the limited FringeNYC rehearsal constraints.

Theatre Plastique’s Gertrude Stein SAINTS! should be on everyone’s must-see list at FringeNYC 2013. Through an eclectic approach to an enigmatic array of poetry and prose, this ensemble nimbly confronts the essence of American language and joyfully engenders its soul.