Usher Nonsense #38 – Ears on a Beatle
EARS ON A BEATLE, Written and Directed by Mark St. Germain
with Dan Lauria & Bill Dawes;
Set by Eric Renschler, Lighting by Daniel Ordower, Costumes by David
Woolard
DR2 Theatre, 103 E. 15th St
Mark St. Germain loves history. So much so that Leon Wildes, the attorney for
both John and Yoko's fight to become citizens, is a co-producer of this play.
This is the story of two FBI men as they follow directions from on high and tail
John Lennon who is suspected of being a subversive and dangerous influence on
society in 1972 when Nixon was running, running, running. The new kid on the
block is taken under the wing of the older agent and as the lessons are taught, we
learn.
While St. Germain seems to want us to focus on John Lennon (the lobby is
decorated with documents about John Lennon obtained via the Freedom of
Information Act) there are other true stories that filter in to the plot. We begin to
think less about the subjects of the investigations and more about these two agents.
It seems to me that the story becomes theirs.
What is the beast known as an FBI agent, anyway? Lauria and Dawes make an
excellent team and I kept having the feeling that these characters wanted to tell us
more than they did. Dawes falls in love with a woman he knows as part of his
undercover assignment. Lauria's character looses his marriage, and almost loses his
daughter. These men live and work in a cocoon that other people will never
understand. The strength of this hits home when Lauria says, "I don't vote. What's
the point? Either way, we win."
St. Germain has a wealth of material and stories. He wants to tell them all at once,
and in the end that is either confusing or overwhelming for an audience. I hope he
continues to write about subjects like this and is willing to be brave about peeling
away until he finds the one story that will be the play's guide. In the mean time, this
is a production that will leave you thinking about this administration's forays into
denying citizen's rights and make you want to volunteer to register voters.
Special mention must be made of the Renschler's set - four units of storage boxes
that convert into closets, an office, a kitchen and a few other things. Visible proof
that things are not always what they seem and that what is innocent to one person
can be flipped into something else with the touch of a different finger.
©2004 Tulis McCall
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