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Opined November 21, 2005
BACH AT LEIPZIG by Itamar Moses, Directed by Direction – Pam MacKinnon
With Jeffrey Carlson (Johann Martin Steindorf), Richard Easton (Georg Friedrich
Kaufmann), Michael Emerson (Georg Balthasar Schott), Boyd Gaines (Johann Friedrich
Fasch), Reg Rogers (Georg Lenck), Andrew Weems (Johann Christoph Graupner)
Scenic Design – David Zinn, Costume Design – Mathew J. LeFebvre, Lighting Design –
David Lander
at New York Theatre Workshop, 79 East 4th Street, Through December 18
This is not as bad as Isherwood says. It just isn’t. The fictional tale of Bach’s audition in
Leipzig in 1722, it tells the story of the other musicians who come looking for the job.
There is the sign of production confusion in the program as the author gives us a short
chronological breakdown from idea to production. Not important to us, but to him. And the play
could have used some brevity as well. We hear why the characters have come to apply for this
job, one at a time. Then we hear them overlapping and intertwining with each other – as in a
musical piece. As a matter of fact, the whole play seems scored as in a classical music
presentation. It works up to a point, but repetition only succeeds when we know it is part of a
pattern that will either conclude or modulate. In this piece it does neither..
What does work, however, are the inventive touches of humor that I can only assume were put
there by the director. As an ensemble these men (an all male play – what a surprise) move
apace. Each has a voice, an opinion, a position to maintain. No one seems lost in motivation or
action. This is particularly remarkable because there are four benches as set pieces – that’s it.
(Note – NYTW consistently gets so much out of each set designer. You would hardly know it
was the same space were it not for the red velvet seats.) There are few props and no other set
piecesng to occupy the actors actions, which would cause some actors to go into the classic
bent elbow, dropped wrist, mode that they do when they are on a stage and feeling a bit lost.
There was no wasted poses, movement or energy with this troupe.
And one other item that worked: there is a fantastic description of a fugue that begins the second
act. This is a writer who wants to teach as well as entertain. At the moment he is doing more of
the former and would do well to trust his instinct on the latter.
©2005 Tulis McCall