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nytheatre.com review:
Candide Americana
Aug 19, 2009
Rabbit Hole Ensemble's smart new play Candide Americana brings Voltaire's famous satire entirely up to date, allowing its themes of humanity vs. inhumanity and pragmatism vs. optimism to resonate within a wholly familiar context. Playwright Stanton Wood follows the structure and plot of the original book with great felicity to tell the story of Candide, an innocent young man who lives in the household of a baron in Bosnia at the time of the recent civil war. With the two daughters of the baron—the headstrong and ambitious Alfonsina and the beautiful and spoiled Cinnabunsa—Candide is tutored by Dr. Pangloss, who teaches his charges that all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds. Candide is a devout disciple of Pangloss's philosophy...but events sorely test it (and him) as the play unfolds.
The civil war reaches the baron's castle, and the family is raped, pillaged, and slaughtered. Candide, banished by Alfonsina for kissing Cinnabunsa just before the castle is attacked, is caught up in the crossfire of a battle and witnesses the killing of a soldier who urges him to take cover. A Red Cross van appears and before he knows it, Candide has been whisked away to New York City as a refugee.
Here, things really become trying for our hero. Not to give too much away, but Candide witnesses/becomes embroiled in such recent human and natural catastrophes as the sinking of the Staten Island Ferry, the 9/11 destruction of the World Trade Center, Hurricane Katrina, E. Coli contamination, and the current recession. Along the way, he commits more than one murder (in self-defense), rescues Cinnabunsa from various horrifying situations, and meets up with a cast of characters that will be entirely familiar if you know Voltaire's original, including an Old Woman with only one buttock and a philosopher, Martina, whose dour world view is the opposite to Pangloss's. Candide also meets up with his old teacher again and again, even though he appears to be killed at several junctures.
Wood's script is deliciously clever in its mapping of events from the original novel to this version; he's also more faithful that I expected in preserving the spirit of the ending. The satirical jabs are mostly at the predilections of anonymous men, women, and mobs at the hands of capricious rulers and random natural disasters.
Edward Elefterion's direction of Candide Americana is absolutely splendid. His trademark minimalism is used to terrific advantage here, with a cast of seven telling the tale with extraordinary energy and skill but very little in the way of props or costumes or lighting effects. (They also provide the sound effects, which is less effective: I would have liked some sound design here.) The show unfolds presentationally, in the style of story theatre; Elefterion exploits every advantage for broad humor in his staging without ever going too far over the top. The cast does excellent work, led by the eminently likeable Josh Sauerman as the naive and earnest Candide, and anchored by the ever-reliable Arthur Aulisi, hilarious and stalwart as Pangloss and a variety of other outlandish characters. Lauren Murphy is a beautiful and very funny Cinnabunsa (a rare combination), and Damon Pooser is excellent as Carlos, Candide's comrade whom he meets in a New Orleans jail cell, and others. Rounding out the ensemble are Amanda Broomell, Lora Chio, and Emily Hartford, all called upon to play many roles throughout the antic evening.
Candide Americana is enormously entertaining. It makes the classic work accessible and contemporary and reminds us of its wisdom, which can certainly come in handy at a time when the notion that everything is for the best seems frequently at odds with what's going on around us.
Backstage review:
Candide Americana
August 24, 2009
Stanton Wood's updating of Voltaire's novella is trenchant, canny, a series of lacerations directed toward the American right wing. He has a perfect partner in director Edward Elefterion, whose minimalist aesthetic makes you forget that there's no scenery, just Sarah Reeb's quick-witted props, Jamie Roderick's facile lighting, and Michael Tester's guffaw-worthy costumes.
Wood kicks off the journey of Candide (the indelibly wide-eyed Josh Sauerman) in Bosnia, 1992. It may not be the Eden that Voltaire envisioned, or even the Westphalia of the comic operetta, but it's a mighty way to prep the characters—including Pangloss (Arthur Aulisi), Cinnabunsa (Lauren Murphy), Martina (Amanda Broomell), Carlos (Damon Pooser), the Old Woman (Lora Chio), and Paquette (Emily Hartford)—for the hellish circumstances that confront them. Who can resist a Staten Island ferry crash, Sept. 11, Hurricane Katrina, white supremacists, and E. coli?
Is this the best of all possible worlds? Hardly. But this is one of the best possible versions of "Candide" I've seen.
TimeOut New York review:
Candide Americana
August 30, 2009
**** [FOUR STARS] It truly must be the best of all possible Fringe Festival worlds when a Voltaire update is completely in sync with the scrappy, resourceful vibe of the annual showcase. The athletic Rabbit Hole Ensemble bounds out onto a barren stage, alternating characters with a mix of reckless abandon and stop-on-a-dime precision. Naturally, the subject here is naïveté, and sometimes Stanton Wood’s play feels like a leftist rib-poker. (They’re off to New Orleans! I wonder if it’ll rain.) But the cast inspires laughs and love in equal measure—with special props going to Lauren Murphy, whose self-deprecating exuberance suggests a farceuse in the noble line of Carole Lombard and Anna Faris.
Theatre mania review:
FringeNYC 2009: Roundup #7
August 27, 2009
Stanton Wood makes some of the most tragic headlines of the past decade absurdly laughable as he gives Voltaire's Candide a 21st-century makeover in the brazen and often hilariously satisfying Candide Americana, at CSV Flabmoyan Theater.
As in Voltaire, Wood's Candide (Josh Sauerman) grows up among nobility, despite his common birth. His childhood friends are his beloved Cinnabunsa (Lauren Murphy) and her sister Adolfina (Amanda Broomell), daughters of a Bosnian baron. Although that country's civil war splits them apart, they're ultimately reunited -- in the U.S. -- where they endure a host of tragedies. All the while Candide manages to retain his belief that we're living in "the best of all possible worlds," an axiom taught by his tutor Dr. Pangloss (Arthur Aulisi).
Wood deftly telescopes some events -- Candide and Pangloss survive the deadly Staten Island ferry crash just moments before they move through the financial district as the attacks on the World Trade Center occur. Later, after surviving Hurricane Katrina, Candide ends up at a clinic seeking treatment for e coli when the doctor's office is bombed by anti-abortion activists, blithely indifferent to the fact he doesn't perform abortions. To all of this Candide applies another of Pangloss' teachings: "Everything happens for the best."
Under the direction of Edward Elefterion, the multiply-cast ensemble -- except for the winning, charismatic Sauerman -- shuttles capably between roles. Standouts include Murphy, who's not only great as the petulant Cinnabunsa, but also side-splittingly funny as a gruff pilot who scams Candide out of his riches from El Dorado, and Lora Chio who sparks laughs as Old Woman, particularly when she leads the cast in a doo-wop number (by Elefterion) with the refrain "We don't have a happier story, our lives have been miserable too." This may be true for them, but Americana manages to make human misery merry.
Broadway World review:
Fringe: Candide Americana: Optimism
August 23, 2009
Nothing ages so badly as satire. The original Candide, ou l'Optimisme was a philosophical comic novel written by Voltaire in 1759, which mocked the Leibnizian idea that we live in "The best of all possible worlds". Candide goes through progressively worsening situations while holding to the optimistic teachings of his tutor Pangloss. The original, though still amusing, has lost some of the power it must have originally possessed for those who experienced firsthand the events and places satirized. Stanton Wood restores that vitality for modern audiences in his adaptation Candide Americana, by transplanting Our Hero from a stereotyped Europe into modern America, with all the peripeteia of the plot finding modern analogues, including New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and New York City on September 11th. It's a genius idea, executed wonderfully and hilariously.
The cast, under the direction of Edward Elefterion, is great, working as a unified whole, then stepping out to play various roles. Josh Sauerman is a perfect Candide, perpetually confused by the terrible happenings around him, and sure that things will work out. Lauren Murphy is a delight as Cinnabonson, Candide's frequently-abducted ladylove. Arthur Aulisi (a frequent collaborator with Rabbit Hole) is very funny as Pangloss. Lora Chio has some nice moments as the Old Woman. Amanda Broomell is great as the competing philosopher Martina, Damon Pooser has a ball as Carlos, an escaped prisoner, Emily Hartford is very nice as the slutty Paquette.
It's a hilarious and thoughtful play, well worth a look.
off off online review:
All American
August 19, 2009
It’s an idea that could have gone either way – Voltaire’s eternal optimist desperately tries to apply his upbeat philosophy to the misfortunes of modern -day America. Thankfully, the expertly staged, solidly entertaining FringeNYC entry Candide Americana represents the best of all possible adaptations. Kind of.
As presented by the Rabbit Hole Ensemble in their characteristic minimalist mode, Candide, his philosophy teacher Dr. Pangloss, and his lady love Miss Cinnbunsa ruminate on contemporary tragedies as they experience them firsthand – Bosnia, 9/11, Katrina, The Staten Island Ferry Crash – with each event slashing a new hole in Pangloss’s cheerful worldview. Voltaire’s original novel played the naïve Candide’s dreadful journey for laughs, and Stanton Wood’s modern version doesn’t stray from the satiric tone. Almost eight years later, it’s still a delicate thing to fool around with 9/11, especially in New York, but by including it Wood drives Voltaire’s point home in a relatable way – sometimes tragedy happens randomly and it is foolish to try to see a silver lining.
Edward Elefterion’s crafty staging utilizes the performers to the maximum extent possible by relying on them to communicate place through blocking and ambient sound. Josh Sauerman is vigilantly wide-eyed as Candide, and the other six performers tackle multiple roles with plenty of charm.
If there is any fault in this artfully composed retelling, it’s that the contemporary setting doesn’t necessarily add anything to Voltaire’s original. This is not to say that our modern tragedies are in any way similar to the travails of Enlightenment Europe – only that the journey from youthful optimism to adolescent cynicism to a refined sense of cautious pragmatism will always resonate, regardless of the time and place.
