'THE ARCHITECT AND THE EMPEROR OF ASSYRIA'
"Not for squeamish"
By Emory Lewis
"The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria" has at last been given its New York premiere at the vast and prestigious La Mama Annex. This brilliant work is the creation of Fernando Arrabal. Spain's leading playwright. It is a major theatrical event.
This production is being presented by the Nelly Vivas Company. Written in 1965, Arrabal's poetic allegory ha splayed all over the world, including a version by Britain's National Theater in 1971.
Arrabal, a dedicated anti-fascist, has been living in exile in Paris for a number of years. Among other things, his plays are scathing indictment of brainwashing and dictatorship.
The great artist often deals in blood and the imagery of the bullfight. I am frequently reminded of Goya's fierce etchings and Picasso's paintings. There is more than the urge to shock in Arrabal's plays. Underneath the cruelty is tenderness.
The dramatist has written a number of seminal scripts. "And They Put Handcuffs on Flowers" is a scream of horror at prison life. The title comes from the statement made by the poet Garcia Lorca just before he was murdered by Franco's during the Spanish Civil War. "Picnic on the Battlefield" is perhaps the most corrosive anti-war okay ever written. All the inflated and sick rhetoric both sides indulge in is ruthlessly exposed.
However, "The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria" cuts more deeply than any of these earlier efforts. It is a rumination on the nature of Man. This strange play is often reminiscent of "Waiting for Godot," and there are elements of "Robinson Crusoe."
This phantasmagoria almost defies description. It is elusive. Just when you think you have a handle by which to grab it, off it goes in another direction.
The entire action takes place on an island. A man who calls himself the Emperor of Assyria descends from the sky. He is the sole survivor of an airplane crash. He discovers a lone inhabitant, whom he dabs the Architect.
The complex charade is a study in role playing. Arrabal seems to be saying that there are people who need to rule and people who build and create. At the end, there is a suggestion that both characters are ever-changing reflections of one man.
At one point, the Emperor parades around the stage in high heels, a bra, and a garter belt. In another scene, the Architect pretends he is the Emperor's grieving mother.
One of the men devours the other on stage at the climax of this strange surrealist fable. Blood is everywhere. The sequence is beautifully faked. It is not a play for the fainthearted. You are hereby forewarned.
Tom O'Horgan, who staged "Hair" and "Jesus Christ Superstar" on Broadway, is responsible for the imaginative staging. The two members of the cast are magnificent. Lazaro Perez is wonderfully supple as the Architect, and he should win all sorts of prizes for his magical acting. He made his Broadway debut in "Docs A Tiger Wear a Necktie?"
Ronald Perlman is equally effective in the role of the Emperor. In a hilarious mock trial, he is called upon to impersonate several people, including the Emperor's mother, wife, and brother. This versatile performer has been a valued member of the CSC Repertory.
The sets by Bill Stabile consist of eight platforms several covered with a loosely woven burlap. Placed on several levels, the create the feeling of an enchanted island and the shimmering water around it.
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