My overall impression
I knew very little when I walked into House of Rabbits’ “CHARIVARI IN VOYEURVILLE” but I left bemoaning the fact that I couldn’t live in this world of fantastical, highly expressionist, and dare I say attractive village of rocked out animals. As defined by the ever-knowing Wikipedia, Charivari is defined as: “The loud, public ritual evolved to a form of social coercion, for instance, to force an as-yet-unmarried couple to wed.” This show is loud, breaking all boundaries of ritual and presents to us an unbridled look into gossip and sexuality.
From the beginning cast members flitter through the crowd as we gathered in our seats, some speaking to us, others singing to themselves. The stage is set with wooden planks, boxes and then finally the band set up of the House of Rabbits. But when the show starts-there’s no transition period-the band and cast throw you into the land of light and shadow, laughter and terror, and sexuality.
Jess Grabriel Cron, the head-rabbit of the band and playwright, has created an intriguing story the showcases the effects of town gossip and sexual intrigue. The sound limitations of the Lillian Theatre at times muffled Cron’s masterful voice, however after the first couple songs audiences’ ears should be able to tune into the music and appreciate the cleverly written lyrics.
The cast, consisting of singers, burlesque dancers and contortionists, is a powerhouse of movement and sexual energy-doing an amazing job at being our bridge into this crazy town of Veoyeurville. A shout out must be given to performer Stephen Beitler who graces the stage as multiple characters, giving each their own individual voice through physicality, but it was his aerial work that took the audiences’ breath away. Never have I seen such powerful and fluid in dance-ever.
But the true star of this crazy production is its director, Brandon Baruch. A veteran of the Hollywood Fringe Festival (who’s play NO HOMO last summer won all the top Fringe Awards) shows audiences that he is a master of all trades in CHARIVI IN VOYEURVILLE. His lighting design creates the perfect balance of light and shadow allowing the show to feel intimate in one scene, and then an epic-rock spectacular the next. And under Baruch’s direction, he has created the most fringe-fucking-tastic show I have ever seen. It’s bold. It’s sexy. It’s beautifully constructed chaos…and I loved every minute of it!
