Dada Is?
July 20, 2008
Saturday night we got together with our great good friends to go downtown to partake of one of the offerings of the Capital Fringe Festival, a show called MANIFESTO! Why this one, out of all of the odd, avant-garde, interesting fare at the Fringe? Well, my pal Linda has known Mark Jaster, one of the actors and creators of the play, since about forever. It was a natural choice.
We met up at Ben's Chili Bowl for a light supper of half smokes covered in cheese and chili (and my arteries hardened again just writing that). So good; so so good. And ridiculously cheap -- now's that's a winning combination in my book.
Anyhow, my pal Bill brought along another friend he met through his journalistic circles, a delightful woman named Laura Jones, who just happens to have an exhibit of photographs at a local gallery. She took them in 1968, during the Poor Peoples' Campaign led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. It was such a pleasure to meet her. (Hi Laura!)
After supper we headed over to the Source Theater for MANIFESTO!
I must admit that I didn't know what to expect. I was a little afraid it was be too odd and weird -- yeah, I know, this comes from an ex-clown. But I have grown skeptical of the cutting edge; I've cut myself on it a couple of times.
I needn't have worried. The show was great -- laugh-out loud funny, odd, frenetic, absurd, wonderful, and fast. It's set in a surrealistic cafe, populated by a snooty waiter, a snootier hostess, a new waitress, a sort of bartender and sound-effects man, and two visionaries who have opposing political views and are hot for each other.
And Dada, the inspiration for the show -- that early 20th century cultural movement that is undefinable. Or is it?