Amnesia Curiosa
Megan and I had the privilege of seeing an early “in progress” version of Geoff Sobelle and Trey Lyford’s new show “Amnesia Curiosa” weeks ago, and I was really excited to see how it had evolved. That early version was captivating but they still had some loose ends to connect.
They perform in the country’s first surgical amphitheater, a domed room with tiered seats surrounding the performers. The feel of the room is closer to a museum or a library than somewhere you’d like to be operated on and the piece perfectly suits that setting. Since they’re performing in the round and there are audience members 15 feet above them in the balcony they are completely and closely surrounded. It makes for a very intimate experience.
As the piece explores the nature of mind and memory they morph more than transistion between characters and moods. It’s very dreamlike and the effect is wonderfully meditative as you get deeper and deeper into the connections between memories. Fortunately they know just where and how to deliver some absurdist humor to keep it from getting meloncholy on the way. At one point they dissect a banana as if it were a human brain and then proceed to eat it, tasting all of the memories once locked inside.
September 25th, 2006 at 2:06 am
I found the story of feeling a grandmother’s presence after she passed away particularly moving. I had a similar experience when my grandmother died. It’s interesting how we remember certain moments, smells, tastes so specifically, and it often seems so random what our brains remember and what they forget. I thought this piece was a wonderful exploration of that mystery and how one memory can spark the next.