Running until Saturday the 28th at the Round House Theater in Silver Spring, a production of the Forum Theater Company.
The Post’s preview enticed me to this production. I didn’t let a subsequent poor review of the play, if not the actors, dissuade me from enjoying it.
Agnes Under the Big Top is a series of immigrant character studies with a subway theme. It was the subway that pulled me in; I hadn’t even realized that this would be the third play I’d see this year with my high school friend Nora Achrati in a big role. Thus, I am a bit biased, but I still disagree with the Post’s second assessment.
The characters are a mix of two Bulgarians who left the circus life, the Liberian who is the title character, an Indian striver (Jason Glass) , a busker playing a variety of roles (Jon Jon Johnson), and a bedridden American (Annie Houston). Their experiences were not exactly the stuff of the American dream. Indeed, much of the play focused on the stories we tell each other and ourselves and how they help or harm us. At ninety minutes and with a pay what you want ticket price, if the elements of that setup intrigue you and you’ve got room in your plans for a Silver Spring visit this Friday or Saturday, I’d recommend checking it out.
My favorite of the characters was Ed Christian’s Shipkov, a former ringmaster-turned-subway operator. Weighed down with cynicism, he’s still the inveterate showman, prone to holding forth as he trains a new apprentice. While the tone is dark, he, along with much of the show, was quite funny and the flashbacks to his past made his present condition all the more heartbreaking. Shipkov and Rosa, Nora’s character, once had a loving relationship that fell apart for a reason I did not expect but that felt achingly real. I found this a particularly impressive feat, as Rosa was speaking Bulgarian for most of the play but her feelings shone through. My favorite of Shipkov’s monologues was his complaint about present culture where many dream of being on the stage with little appreciation of the work that goes into doing it right. I definitely revisited this sentiment last Saturday while watching a few Flugtag skits that would have greatly benefited from the assistance of someone with some actual training.
I was also quite impressed by Joy Jones as the title character, Agnes, who makes a fairly effective argument for just stretching the truth a bit.
However, the specific mechanism of her last big decision rang false to me. There is much that proper storytelling and perspective can do, particularly in the lives of the characters of this play. However, there are also very real limits to stories and I don’t think magical realism should be allowed to trump an act that does great harm to another.
Source: Tickets purchased by Kate, thanks Kate! Although I did contribute a bit by donating to the Busker who also performs before the show, a good reason to come early.
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