And on the seventh day—well, for the seventh day, to be more accurate—God created theater. Because rest was proving too dull.
That playful notion provides a starting point for Why?, the latest offering from Peter Brook—himself something of a deity among theater fans—and his longtime collaborator Marie-Hélène Estienne, and the centerpiece of “Peter Brook\NY,” a celebration of his and their contributions to the stage (including opera), film, television, literature and “the development of the next generation of theatre artists in New York City.”
As such, Why? is markedly free of grandiosity—on the surface, at least. Three actors and a pianist, all dressed in basic black, enter a stage strewn with chairs, music stands and rolling clothes racks, evoking a rehearsal studio. Props will enter the picture, all minimal, from a hat to a gun. (No set or costume designer is credited; Estienne has been known to work in these capacities, informed by whatever conceit she and Brook develop.)
The facile performers are first called on to be angels, then actors—themselves, in a sense, but also representatives of their craft, explaining, exploring, pondering the nature and necessity of theater. “If it’s a delicious piece of writing, words, words you are looking for, then you’d better go home,” muses Hayley Carmichael, who has a wide-open face and a flair for matter-of-fact understatement. “You’ve come to the wrong address.”
Ironically, though, words are the main thing that Brook and Estienne, who co-wrote and co-directed Why?, offer us in this 70-minute piece, which is ultimately more admirable than it is moving, or even provocative. The play is in part a history lesson, its central figure and tragic hero the Russian director Vsevolod Meyerhold, whose experimental approach—at a time and in a place where experimentation was hardly encouraged—greatly inspired Brook. Though other artists who lived through Lenin’s rise and endured his reign of terror are recognized—notable among them Stanislavski, who died in 1938, less than two years before Meyerhold was executed—it’s Meyerhold and his second wife, actress Zinaida Reich, who represent the passion and purpose of their art, in part by paying the ultimate price for it.
As Why? evolves from a reflection on acting and theater to, essentially, an account of Meyerhold’s triumphs and his horrific fall, the play’s titular question expands, ostensibly, to take greater social and moral questions into account. But they’re never really fleshed out; instead, Brook and Estienne rely increasingly on historical accounts and documents. Near the end, the three players, who have been in almost constant motion, sit in neatly aligned chairs, their faces drained of expression, reading mortifying details; the effect is more enervating, strangely, than sobering.
The performers are nonetheless compelling throughout, particularly the British actress Kathryn Hunter, who with her compact, agile body and wonderfully husky voice deftly juggles a variety of characters while projecting a singular persona, as all are required to do. Marcello Magni, an Italian actor—like Carmichael, they both have directorial experience as well—has a more relaxed, jocular intensity, and pianist Laurie Blundell musically punctuates the trio’s interaction with a gentle wit.
Given the abundance of talent represented in Why?, from its prestigious co-creators on down, I left the theater truly wishing I’d loved the production more than I did. But as God intended, surely, I was never—well, seldom—bored. And I’m still eager to see what Brook, now 94, and Estienne have up their sleeves next.
Why? opened September 26, 2019, at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center and runs through October 6. Tickets and information: tfana.org
