Clark and I Somewhere in Connecticut
James Long, co-artistic director of Theatre Replacement, discovers of an old tattered suitcase in his alleyway on east 14th avenue.
In the suitcase, he is amazed to find albums, organized meticulously with family photos and captions. Who are these people? Where do they come from? What are their connections? Why did someone wantonly throw this precious material in the garbage? When a family member from the photos discovers that Long wants to use their personal information for a play, they refuse and threaten to sue for copyright infringement. That doesn’t stop the show however – instead it makes for juicier, more complex storytelling.
The discovery of the suitcase so intrigues Long, that Theatre Replacement joins with Rumble Productions to bring together a top notch group of creators, (Cande Andrade, Owen Belton, Camille Gingras, Craig Hall, Anita Rochon, Jonathan Ryder, and Maiko Bae Yamamoto) who then squeeze out a unique and bizarrely interconnected story they call, Clark and I Somewhere in Connecticut.
Opening with a man dressed in a large furry, floppy eared, bunny costume, we are taken on the journey. On a small projection screen, The Bunny Man (played by Long) innocently reveals pictures taken from the album. Faces are blocked out and names cannot be used, so Bunny Man playfully makes up gestures and sounds for each character. Through slides, video, live projection and dialogue, Bunny Man recounts the entire suitcase story while also weaving in other stories seemingly unrelated.
For instance, Bunny Man tells the story of when working in a pet store, he was compelled to end the life of an abandoned newborn puppy. Shown at different points in the play, video clips of other people recounting their version of the story (and by the way they are also dressed in the bunny suit), demonstrates the incredible diversity that can occur in individual interpretation.
Another story that appears sporadically in the piece, is the disturbing fascination with Issei Sagawa, a known cannibal, who is obsessed with tall white women. Bunny Man's connection to this man is possibly related to his own obsession with the suitcase of photos. Bunny Man has a protective need to claim and devour them as his own, especially, as he mentions numerous times, his attachment and unwillingness to part with the album about Mandy, the cute Pomeranian.
As I watched different photos of people long gone flash on the screen, I couldn’t help think of my own family archives - generations of relations, posing in different times and places. I wonder what story a stranger would create by studying them. Long is obviously having fun with his own interpretation of these abandoned photo albums, soaking up whatever materializes along the path to discovering who these people really are.
As a multi media story presentation, Clark and I Somewhere in Connecticut is exceptional. The performance had me engaged to the very end. I was not always sure where the story was taking me or why certain choices were made, however I was engrossed by the bizarre connections and unpredictable nature of the story elements. I think in the end, as we are presented with information that changes everything, it is up to each audience member to interpret the connections of these unusual stories in their own way.
Clark and I Somewhere in Connecticut a Rumble Productions/Theatre Replacement production was presented as part of this year's PuSh Festival. It is currently on tour and you can find more information here or here.