Luke Melia

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February 10, 2002

2/10/02, 10:36 pm

Mini-review of Dead Tech, a theatrical production by HERE:

“Dead Tech” lives up to its billing as a radical reworking of Henrik Ibsen’s “The Master Builder.” A little too radical. A bunch of new dialogue was written for the production, thankfully not to be spoken by Ibsen’s characters but by two orange-clad additions that had little direct interaction with the main characters. The new dialogue was generally trite, consisting mostly of warnings about technology and statements about towers that were uncomfortably suggestive of the WTC. The whole technology angle was too much a stretch to pin on Ibsen’s play. Other aspects of the radical reworking, though, were successful. The music and dance sequences added wonderfully to the surreal qualities of the original work. The director cut a few parts (Kaja and the doctor) and a lot of dialogue, and kept the pace brisk without damaging the thrust of the script. A concept called “gestural choreography” was used and I thought it was pretty cool. It was very original and added an interesting dimension to following the action that was challenging but manageable to understand. Not sure I can justly describe it in words. In Brooklyn, $15-$18, on til Feb. 23rd.

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