‘Heavy Craft/Soft Landing’ Takes the Collaborative Approach
By Samantha Shechtman • May 5th, 2009 • Category: Arts, Blog
All photos: Steve Gold
The subject of Art House Production’s latest multimedia play is universal: the human life cycle, from our birth to our death with all the other births and deaths in between. Heavy Craft/Soft Landing touches on our most important relationships and milestones, mixing spoken word, music, video projection, poetry, mime, movement, and storytelling to complete the cycle of life in just about an hour.
Art House must be commended for not only creating a smart original piece of theater but for their clear understanding of collaboration. An ensemble of performers and musicians work together seamlessly throughout the play, in many cases playing more than one character and telling more than one story. The use of simple props and sparse scenic elements to create a myriad of locations and tones in many cases were quite imaginative and successful.
The “scarf dance of conformity” — performed by our adolescent self desperately trying to fit in — is one of the play’s most striking moments. Without a single spoken word it communicates the human condition with such humor and tenderness that this reviewer was left wishing the entire piece proceeded without words.
The musicians of Heavy Craft/Soft Landing deserve praise for not only providing an original soundtrack for this theatrical experience but for going above and beyond traditional musical expression and creating Foley sound effects to aid in the storytelling. Blowing bubbles in water through a straw, playing a toy trumpet, and even a sneeze become parts of the imaginative soundscape of this piece. Having seven talented musicians performing on multiple instruments in such an intimate space produced a rather powerful experience.
The play also relies quite heavily on technical elements. The video shot for Heavy Craft/Soft Landing was quite beautiful, but its success contrasts with the piece’s lighting and set design, which can be described as makeshift at best. For a company so teeming with imagination, the set design could be much more innovative.
As an experience Heavy Craft/Soft Landing is definitely worth it, not only to support a successful piece of original theater but also to support a company which has its community in its heart. As an added bonus you can get some of the best homemade brownies in the lobby before or after the show.
Three performances of Heavy Craft/Soft Landing remain: Thursday, May 7; Friday, May 8 and Saturday, May 9. Tickets are $20 ($15 for students and seniors). For more information or to order tickets, click here.
Samantha Shechtman is a theater director and scenic designer. She is currently the co-artistic director of theNEST, a Harlem based theater company whose artistic mission is to support the development of new plays and artistic outreach with the youth of the community. She holds a BA from Rutgers University and an MFA in Directing from The New School for Drama.
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