Tweet
Student performs collage of Bogosian monologues as college thesis titled "Freakshow".
'Freakshow' is a carnival of strange characters
by Samantha Reid
Arts | 3/17/09
Posted online at 12:07 AM EST on 3/17/09 / Last updated at 4:39 PM EST on 3/17/09
PrintEmail Article Tools Page 1 of 1 CORRECTION APPENDED SEE BOTTOM
The playwright and actor Eric Bogosian once said, "I write my plays to create an excuse for full-tilt acting and performing." If ever a performance fulfilled the intents and objectives of the work's author, it was Zach Handler's '09 senior thesis, Freakshow. Freakshow features a compilation of monologues from several of Bogosian's solo shows, including "Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead," "Wake Up and Smell the Coffee," "Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll," "Men Inside," "Funhouse" and "Drinking In America."
Handler's magnum opus was born of a long-term relationship, one that formed from the moment an adolescent Handler first read Bogosian's "Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead." Through his characters, Bogosian haunts, demands, screams and preaches on a multitude of topics from bigotry to masturbation. Although still in middle school, Handler determined then and there that he would someday perform Bogosian's opulently dark work.
After years of interest, a semester of writing and three months in rehearsal with director Mike Martin '09, Freakshow may embody the words of Eric Bogosian, but the talent and drive that is apparent to the audience is that of the performer, Handler. As per Bogosian's stage directions, a desk, a chair and a podium were the only set pieces, elongating the stage in Spingold's Merrick Theater. Four props-a telephone, a magazine (one of questionable or 'Bogosian' content), a box and a microphone alternately provided context and comic relief.
Handler's arrangement provided a range of characters and subject matter as well as an "excuse for full-tilt acting and performing." Freakshow explores a multitude of levels, from the physical-standing on a box shouting to sitting calmly at the edge of the stage-to the intangible-characters range from a manipulative insurance salesman to a street-corner hustler.
Although each monologue was distinct, it took Handler mere seconds to transform into a new character, adopting different voices, mannerisms, movements and relations with the audience. Staying true to his inspiration, Handler provided a variety of material from the hysterical to the disturbing. In a program note to spectators, Handler mentions that his favorite aspect of Bogosian's work is its visceral quality. In no portion of Freakshow is Bogosian's visceral effect as evident as in "Fantasy."
The monologue "Fantasy" featured a character standing behind a desk and pleasuring himself while talking graphically to a dirty magazine. This segment-besides justifying the program's disclaimer, "For Mature Audiences Only"-had the audience laughing, gasping and feeling torn between shock and amusement. Although difficult to watch, Handler's delivery of "Fantasy" clearly achieves Bogosian's goal of "full-tilt acting."
As Fred Stanley from "Mutual Insurance," Handler's one-sided telephone conversation evoked raucous laughter from the spectators. This particular monologue featured schemes familiar to anyone who's interacted with a telemarketer-only, in true Bogosian manner, taken one step further. Upon finding out that the wife of his prospective client is employed, Handler's calculating character proceeds to set up gruesome hypothetical situations: "You get mugged, a gun goes off, you get a bullet in the brain, you're in a coma for months and months and months." Continuing to spin vivid scenarios in which the client's family is left injured, unable to work and financially ruined, Handler's character connives and charms until he achieves his goal.
Despite the fact that the individual monologues come from another's work, the triumph of Freakshow lies in Zach Handler's creative abilities. His senior thesis amused, bewildered, enlightened and shocked, following its original creator's intent. Handler's characters are opinionated, loud, persuasive, preachy, angry and shamelessly penitent. Few audience members will forget the character from "Confession," kneeling beneath a single light in center stage. Although begging forgiveness for a multitude of sins, Handler exuded ironic indifference, sending the audience into fits and shouts of laughter.
"Sexy, strange and superprovocative. I loved it," proclaimed Ell Cohen '09. There doesn't seem to be any dispute among the spectators-Freakshow was an absolute success.
Correction: The article incorrectly spelled the name of a student. The student's name is Ell Cohen '09, not Eli Cohen '09.
------------------------------
Freakshow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2dzAFCP4UY
Freakshow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKzJ0...eature=related
'Freakshow' is a carnival of strange characters
by Samantha Reid
Arts | 3/17/09
Posted online at 12:07 AM EST on 3/17/09 / Last updated at 4:39 PM EST on 3/17/09
PrintEmail Article Tools Page 1 of 1 CORRECTION APPENDED SEE BOTTOM
The playwright and actor Eric Bogosian once said, "I write my plays to create an excuse for full-tilt acting and performing." If ever a performance fulfilled the intents and objectives of the work's author, it was Zach Handler's '09 senior thesis, Freakshow. Freakshow features a compilation of monologues from several of Bogosian's solo shows, including "Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead," "Wake Up and Smell the Coffee," "Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll," "Men Inside," "Funhouse" and "Drinking In America."
Handler's magnum opus was born of a long-term relationship, one that formed from the moment an adolescent Handler first read Bogosian's "Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead." Through his characters, Bogosian haunts, demands, screams and preaches on a multitude of topics from bigotry to masturbation. Although still in middle school, Handler determined then and there that he would someday perform Bogosian's opulently dark work.
After years of interest, a semester of writing and three months in rehearsal with director Mike Martin '09, Freakshow may embody the words of Eric Bogosian, but the talent and drive that is apparent to the audience is that of the performer, Handler. As per Bogosian's stage directions, a desk, a chair and a podium were the only set pieces, elongating the stage in Spingold's Merrick Theater. Four props-a telephone, a magazine (one of questionable or 'Bogosian' content), a box and a microphone alternately provided context and comic relief.
Handler's arrangement provided a range of characters and subject matter as well as an "excuse for full-tilt acting and performing." Freakshow explores a multitude of levels, from the physical-standing on a box shouting to sitting calmly at the edge of the stage-to the intangible-characters range from a manipulative insurance salesman to a street-corner hustler.
Although each monologue was distinct, it took Handler mere seconds to transform into a new character, adopting different voices, mannerisms, movements and relations with the audience. Staying true to his inspiration, Handler provided a variety of material from the hysterical to the disturbing. In a program note to spectators, Handler mentions that his favorite aspect of Bogosian's work is its visceral quality. In no portion of Freakshow is Bogosian's visceral effect as evident as in "Fantasy."
The monologue "Fantasy" featured a character standing behind a desk and pleasuring himself while talking graphically to a dirty magazine. This segment-besides justifying the program's disclaimer, "For Mature Audiences Only"-had the audience laughing, gasping and feeling torn between shock and amusement. Although difficult to watch, Handler's delivery of "Fantasy" clearly achieves Bogosian's goal of "full-tilt acting."
As Fred Stanley from "Mutual Insurance," Handler's one-sided telephone conversation evoked raucous laughter from the spectators. This particular monologue featured schemes familiar to anyone who's interacted with a telemarketer-only, in true Bogosian manner, taken one step further. Upon finding out that the wife of his prospective client is employed, Handler's calculating character proceeds to set up gruesome hypothetical situations: "You get mugged, a gun goes off, you get a bullet in the brain, you're in a coma for months and months and months." Continuing to spin vivid scenarios in which the client's family is left injured, unable to work and financially ruined, Handler's character connives and charms until he achieves his goal.
Despite the fact that the individual monologues come from another's work, the triumph of Freakshow lies in Zach Handler's creative abilities. His senior thesis amused, bewildered, enlightened and shocked, following its original creator's intent. Handler's characters are opinionated, loud, persuasive, preachy, angry and shamelessly penitent. Few audience members will forget the character from "Confession," kneeling beneath a single light in center stage. Although begging forgiveness for a multitude of sins, Handler exuded ironic indifference, sending the audience into fits and shouts of laughter.
"Sexy, strange and superprovocative. I loved it," proclaimed Ell Cohen '09. There doesn't seem to be any dispute among the spectators-Freakshow was an absolute success.
Correction: The article incorrectly spelled the name of a student. The student's name is Ell Cohen '09, not Eli Cohen '09.
------------------------------
Freakshow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2dzAFCP4UY
Freakshow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKzJ0...eature=related
Comment