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Education♦ Dialogue ♦ Independence
REVIEW
Simple People’s
eloquent absurdity
BY JAY THIEMEYER
mago is such a treasure. C onsider its
latest production, this one w ritten by
Carol Triffle. T he concept couldn’t be
m ore tim ely o r m ore rudely entertaining.
In it, Amy, a form er accountant with
Lehm an B rothers,, timidly e n te rs the
sanctuary of a
hom eless shelter.
She looks
"Simple People," a
traum atized. On the
new play by Carol
Stage she is alone.
Triffle, runs at
She dum ps h e r stuff
Imago Theater
on . th e creaky bunk
through June 13. All and g o e s to g e t a tray
seats reserved. For
from the kitchen. She
reaches up to a mic
ticket, information,
to m ake h e r o rder
call the Imago
and says som ething
Theatre Box Office
th a t sounds like “one
at 503-231-9581 or
m ore day,” though
TicketsWest at 503- th e plastic flat she
picks up with the
224-8499 or 800-
anonymous m eal and
992r8499
th e prom inent Coca-
You can also
Cola can tells us, like
purchase tickets
the tray, all h e r days
through the link a t ; are barely digestible
www.imagotheatre. and equally
nondescript and
com
lacking flavor. -
Amy once lived in
He seem s eternally bloodless and on the
make. Milo, on the oth er hand, is near
hysteria as he describes how cold the
darkness is outside, alone on the pav em en t
A fourth m em ber is Amy’s form er
assistant, B ob; Bob is under the covers o n a
nearby bunk, both oblivious to th e re s t and
ignored.' H e rouses in th e middle of.the
piece and w anders in his rum pled, dirty su it
to g et his tray th en take h is s e a t, th en not
am ount to much. Just as before. Just m ore
bereft.
if T rips to the john behind a screen provide
flushes for punctuation. ,
This work is com posed of little parts, not
surprising given Carol Triffle’s re ce n t plays,
very nearly not th e a te r at all. In th e notes
th e influence of h e r m entor Jacque LeCog is
recognized, along with playwright R obert
Maxwell. I heard som e Brecht-like lines,
maybe because I w anted to, and a Beckett-
like strain. T he characters w ere all Pozzo’s. /
A nondescript, eloquent depiction of the
absurdity of Am erica’s securitization.
Trading in financial nothings, an econom y
driven by securitized debt, landing th e ,
giants together in th eir little sh e lte r hell.
T he piece is unadorned and to the point.
L ost people who once w ere som ebodies in a
society going down th e drain, making
ch aracters like th ese inevitable. I thought it
was very moving in its vulnerability and light
statem en t of com euppance. T he m orality
overlooking th e g reat city. Now, she guards
h e r skirts on the pavem ent w here she had
been sleeping. .
Slowly— th e whole play is practically
mim ed, every m otion is so slow — sh e is
joined by o th er refugees of th e subprim e
m ortgage implosion. T here is Nathan, a.k.a.
“Odd Job,” whom she insists on calling “Odd
Ball” as though they still inhabited th e
fraternity of th e ir office lives in th e financial
tower. “Odd” is indeed extraordinarily good
a t assim ilating him self to. his environm ent.
T he p oetry w as c le a ra n d in a well-measured
dose._ E loquence could seem really
inappropriate but in this piece, it added
savor.
It was all about the acting and the acting
w asw ell tuned and effortless. As is to be
expected from Imago.
Sitting w ith a nother friend, herself
hom eless a t this m om ent, we both inhaled
it. She thought it was reasonably accurate.
An a rtist herself, s h e assum ed the actors
had also experienced w hat th e play
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
I
...
P H O T O B Y JER R Y M O U A W A D
Danielle Permette a n d Kyle Delamarter in Imago Theater's original production “Simple
People. ” The play, by Carol Triffle, runs through June 13.
portrayed,: It seem ed th a t way. As serious
artists, ra th e r than greedheads,.they
presum ably knew w hat it was like to be on
the margin, living on a very small income,
or less. T heyjseem ed to have skin in the
game. AU in all, an affecting production, an
eloquent draft, fit for consum ption. I say
draft because they seem to b e endlessly
improving on th eir work. So, th o u g h th e re ,
w ere instances w here things m ight be
tightened, it was an hour very well spent on
M em orial Day.
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