Constellation Theatre Company: Incognito

 I'm not sure what I expected, because I came with no expectations.  All I knew was the title of the play: "Incognito."  And faith in Constellation Theatre Company to select and produce a quality piece of theatre.  I am happy to report that my faith was well place; although, I'm still not quite sure what I experienced.  You see, the play--in one continuous act taking 100 minutes--is a bit of an enigma.  Written in short vignettes that are woven together a little bit like a jenga tower. With each snippet more of the puzzle is revealed.  A puzzle comprised of three actual events/people and then turned with poetic license and embellished with fictional characters to heighten the emotional connection with the audience.  So you have the scientist who took Einstein's brain, along with two British men who suffered unusual brain conditions, one made extremely worse by the intervention of a surgeon.  You'll be forgiven if after 100 minutes you walk away as I did not knowing exactly what to think of it all.  Which, of course, if the point.  It's not what to think, but you continue to think about what you just experienced.

For the actors, of which there were only four, the challenge was playing multiple, diverse, and linguistically unique characters whose stories are hinted at from lives lived on both sides of the pond.  And here, I give a little extra kudos to Marcus Kyd who pulled off two very convincing dialects of British English, one posh and the other like that spoken by the actor Alan Cummings.  Each of the actors: Mr. Kyd, Kari Ginsburg, Ixchel Hernandez and Gerrard Alex Taylor were amazing.  To successfully depict so many characters, returning to most of them intermittently throughout, is no small fete.  The entire plausibility of the play depends upon it.  To a person, they were mesmerizing.  

The costumes were contemporary in design and shared a similar palette with tones shared randomly between the cast.  The set was made of what appeared at first to be marble blocks with for doorless "closets" against a wall dividing the stage area from backstage.  The boxes are all lit from within with a variety of colors that change with the mood and location of the scenario.  Above that stage area rows of incandescent light bulbs that also when on and off and grew brighter or duller with the needs of each moment.  Light firing like the electric pulse of the human brain. 

While the premise may not be everyone's cup of tea, the production was spot on.

Set Designed by Nephelie Andonyadis

Each actor ready to enter the stage area and begin the stories.

Gerrard Alex Taylor, Marcus Kyd, Ixchel Hernandez and Kari Ginsburg

Marcus and Kari with Albert Einstein's brain

Gerrard and Ixchel