"Flocked" at the NY Clown-Theatre Festival

[post 188]

Okay, let's be honest, it would be pretty bogus of me to pretend to be objective while reviewing a show (Flocked) that stars two friends of mine (Audrey Crabtree & Gabriela Muñoz) and is directed by a third (Hilary Chaplain), now wouldn't it? On the other hand, I did swear on the Blogopedia Bible to report on all interesting physical comedy in the known universe, so I would risk being consigned to eternal Blog Purgatory were I not to mention the show at all.

Luckily there is a thin razor line of a solution: submit a straight factual report devoid of opinion or human emotion. No problem.

Background:
• Audrey lives in New York City, Gabriela in Mexico City.
• Audrey is tall, or at least taller than Gabriela.
• They met at last year's NYC clown-theatre festival.
• They worked together this spring for a month in Mexico, which you can read more about  here.
• They are planning a Mexico City clown-theatre festival for March 2012.
• A hurricane delayed Gabriela's arrival in NYC.
• Hilary worked with them 29 hours a day since Gaby's arrival.

Photo by Joann Jovinelly

Photo by Joann Jovinelly

Storyline:
Flocked takes the form of a loud and raucous but non-verbal confrontation between two bird-like characters, one sweet and friendly, the other territorial and stand-offish. They communicate through an extensive vocabulary of movement and chirping, sometimes competing with each other through elaborate dances, sometimes through direct or indirect physical contact, in a relationship that continually evolves over the course of the 45-minute piece.

Audience Reaction:

Photo by Joann Jovinelly

Audience laughter was frequent, loud, and sustained. Post-mortem chit-chat was quite positive. Some old guy in the third row especially laughed a lot. This gentleman was heard to comment that when he saw the entertaining 10-minute preview in the opening night cabaret he had wondered if they had enough material for a full-length piece. He was happy to find that it worked even better as a full show because the context was clearer and the character development made it a much richer piece. He was hoping more people would get to see the show before it closes this Sunday (Sept. 11), and said he wished he had a blog or something so he could tell more people about it.

Links:
Another blogger reviews the show
Gabriela's web site.
Audrey's web site.
Hilary's web site.
New York Clown-Theatre Festival
 Joann Jovinelly Flickr album
Jim Moore photos