Dude knew how to party.
Screwed his sister. Raped the wives of his inner circle—in front of his inner circle. Put the wives to work in brothels, publicly honoring customers with the most frequent humping miles. Murdered members of his inner circle. Diverted inheritances from their children toward his own coffers. And was a renowned drag queen, ancient Rome's very own RuPaul, prancing around as Venus.
Yup. Caligula knew how to unwind—a mad, murderous frat boy who defined the concept of "toga party" eventually passed onto Belushi's Bluto Blutarsky.
The long-debated, endlessly reinterpreted play about the freaky fourth Caesar of Rome by French dramatist Albert Camus gets a meaty, acutely acted and surprisingly satisfying treatment by the Cockroach Theatre players on the compact SEAT stage Downtown.
Overcoming an uncomfortable setting—full house plus bleacher seating plus tight quarters plus sweaty nights plus late-night show equals fidgety theatergoing—and a sparse set of plain black risers, this production boasts a riveting performance by Levi Fackrell as the depraved title tyrant and sensational support, notably from Erica Stoddard as his earthy, doomed mistress Caesonia; John A. Lorenz as manservant Helicon; Shawn Overton as the poetic Scipio; and Will Adamson as Cherea, the lead conspirator hell-bent to strike down this pestilence he calls emperor.
By turns puckish and vicious, a little boy lost and monster on the make, the boyish Fackrell plays Caligula like a deranged Michael J. Fox, a fascinating teeter-totter between innocence and insanity. His portrayal is deceptively unassuming at first, slowly maturing into a throbbing menace as he devolves further into an often cheerful psychopath of breathtaking cruelty. He's worth the price of admission. Even worth the sticky, stinky body heat that's damn near stifling by intermission.
But what is Caligula really about? What does this production want it to be about?
Parallels to American/World Politics 2004 are easy to construct, the play outwardly an indictment of a leader gone loco, indiscriminately obliterating everything in his wake. (With everyone bitching about the little bastard in power, toss in Chris Matthews in a toga and you've got Hardball: The Ancient Rome Tour.) The interpretation is even egged along by intriguingly dissonant details, from the cramped set's walls coated in newspaper articles to the bizarre bursts of contemporary clothing (Roman patricians in dark business suits and ties), messing with our mind-set, partially keeping us in—and reminding us of—today.
Yet far from our president's dead-bolt certainty and unwavering profile, Caligula is a teeming mass of despair and defeat, questioning life, spitting at its uselessness. As Camus colors him, after the devastating death of his sister that propels the play into action, Caligula comes to loathe the absurdity of life, but his misguided response is to rebel against it—to outmuscle it by refusing to cope or conduct himself within conventional codes of human struggle and civilized behavior. He's felled by this disease we call living, and expects to recover by growing even sicker than the sickness—beating it at its own ugly game—as his virulence ripens into beastliness. Ultimately, though, by destroying everything around him, Caligula destroys himself.
Draw whatever moral, philosophical or historical lessons you will from Caligula.
And a few acting lessons, too.
ACT II
Previewing Caligula in the May 20 Weekly, I referred to "the Arts Factory's SEAT venue," earning me a mild e-scolding from Test Market's Ernest Hemmings. To wit: "I want to thank you very much for attending our theater. It means quite a lot for us since we have the promotional budget of a high-school rock band. In the future, however, when you refer to SEAT [Social Experimentation and Absurd Theater], please note that SEAT is owned and operated by Test Market, not The Arts Factory. ... All of the money from our tours, sold scripts, films, design projects, and outsourced work goes into SEAT. We do not cross our fingers and hope to start a board of directors with wealthy accountants. Test Market created SEAT to offer avant-garde artists an alternative to performing in sand pits outdoors. If Test Market had not taken over the space and turned it into SEAT back in December, it would actually be a gallery with some hausfrau's finger-painting. ..."
Point taken—but lay off us hausfraus, buddy.
CURTAIN CALL
Billy the Bard's biggest Ham(let), with Vegas native Zander Schaus essaying the melancholy Dane, backed by the Nevada Theatre Co., lays down the Shakespearean boogie June 3, 4 and 5 at 8 p.m. at the Summerlin Centre Community Park ($14; $10 for Summerlin residents; 791-4412). ... The Rainbow Company's season finale, The Diary of Anne Frank, completes its run this weekend at the Charleston Heights Arts Center ($3-$7, 229-6383) ... Retesting, 1, 2, 3: Test Market has announced some of its new-season schedule. Look for their skewed, sideways slant with: The Cradle Will Rock, Weekends Like Other People, Adam Baum and the Jew Movie (I'm only the messenger), Pulp, Sleeping with Straight Men and Constant Binging Without Purging. Visit their website, logically called godsexandbowling.com, for elucidation. Or barring that, befuddlement ...
In a letter to patrons, Las Vegas Little Theatre President Walter Niejadlik asks for financial support for the group's move to a new 8,000-square-foot facility—a few doors down from, and double the size of the current digs—at the Center at Spring Mountain, just off Valley View and Spring Mountain Road. The center kicked in $80,000 and LVLT needs to make up the diff', and make the move, by August 15. If not, they'll have to cough up twin rents, a likely budget-buster. Call 362-7996 to find out more. ... To whet theatrical appetites—and grease generous wallets—LVLT performed free staged readings last weekend from its 2004-'05 lineup, including September's new-theater inaugural, Driving Miss Daisy. ...
Finally, a reminder that the Tony Awards air Sunday night on CBS, packing serious star punch: Nicole Kidman, Mary J. Blige, Sarah Jessica Parker, Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney, LL Cool J, P. Diddy, Jimmy Fallon, Ethan Hawke, Taye Diggs, Patrick Stewart and host Hugh Jackman.
Gotta goose those ratings with a surge of high-voltage Hollywood. And all those day-in, day-out Broadway troupers likely losing their one shot at national exposure?
There's no business like show business like no business I knooooooow …