San Diego.com
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January 15, 2005
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"LIFE; A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED"
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Review by Welton Jones/January 15, 2005
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San Diego Repertory Theatre
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Usually, it's not hard to describe a show by the Flying Karamazov Brothers. There's juggling, and wry comedy, and juggling, and some light mysticism, maybe some music and then some amazing juggling.
That's about what they're offering on the San Diego Repertory's Lyceum Stage these days, thank goodness, but since there's an elaborate title involved _ "Life: A Guide For the Perplexed" _ the matter must be addressed.
First, they don't fly, they aren't brothers and the Karamazov is just something that seemed classy in the early 1970s when the four guys still were street entertainers. But they do give satisfaction Oh, yes! and they should be seen whenever possible, certainly including this engagement. They'll banish your blues and cram uplifting little images into your permanent memory.
Paul Magid, one of the darker pair of Ks, wrote this script, he says, during a vacation in Italy when he found himself in touch with an obscure 13th Century ancestor named Maimonedes, author of a "famous tract" called "A Guide of the Perplexed."
Well, Ok. There's a book in this show and Magid (playing himself) keeps reading lessons from it. His mates help act them out. Simple as that. So, moving on...
There's the trademark juggling of three items from the audience (an open bottle of water, a collapsible cane and a bag of spaghetti when I was there). There are frequent episodes of four-way, face-to-face club juggling with endless trade-offs. There were some casual musical numbers _ probably 60 percent of the show was recorded but they could play it themselves if necessary _ and some mini-extravaganzas like the Seven Ages of Man and a Bollywood musical with a cruising Krishna learning something or other.
There also is one of the most extraordinary duos in my memory, involving Magid and Mark Ettinger each singing a separate but equal song while playing guitar and juggling three balls... jointly! Astounding, at least until the moment after intermission when Howard Jay Patterson and Roderick Kimball joined in the reprise for a grand total of four guys, three balls, two songs, a guitar, a euphonium and a pennywhistle all interlocked. Right! Patterson blew the horn while fingering the whistle which was blown by Kimball who was juggling with Magid who strummed the guitar while Ettinger... Well, you get the idea.
Stuff like this doesn't just chug through town every day, perplexed or not. (Neither do some of these dreadful puns, thankfully.) People with a need for refreshment in their life should consider a visit to the Lyceum in the next month.
Oh, and bring along something challenging for Magid to juggle. Nothing alive, no chainsaws, no anvils, just a bit of a quirk. Like that spaghetti without the plastic bag. Or, hey, how about some fly paper? Hee hee...
Type: Play
Venue: San Diego Repertory Theatre
Dates: 14 January-6 February 2005
Part of Town: Downtown
Address: Horton Plaza Shopping Center
Box Office: (619) 544-1000 |
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