“Laughter for relaxing the nerves,” as the tagline for “Scintille Futuriste” reads, was not exactly how I would have described it. Laughter was certainly evident, but I doubt that a single spectator was feeling relaxed as the cast with painted faces shouted out random words and orgasmic moans.
“Scintille Futuriste,” which opened last weekend in the Studio Theatre, is based on the concept of Futurism developed in Europe in the 1920s. According to director Sandro Carottie, “Speed, noise, machines, transportation, communication, information and all the transient impressions of life in the modern city intoxicated the Futurists.”
As I entered the theater, about six actors sat on the floor with black-and-white face paint and cardboard computer parts on their laps while shouting out words like “error,” “Yahoo,” “MySpace” and “virus” repeatedly, giving me a general idea of what I was getting myself into.
The play included a number of short skits separated by random, nonsensical interludes. Some of the skits were hilarious with their ironic situations and mocking of society. The actors did a spectacular job with their facial expressions and comedic timing. Leah Harshaw’s cat-like sex fiend character had an awkwardly realistic onstage orgasm as she stood next to her dictator-like partner in a bubble wrap jacket.
The black, white and gray coloring of the costumes and set along with the simplicity of the wooden boxes they used for every scene added to the dark, eerie feelings the play evoked. The strobe lights and crazy music didn’t hurt either.
The acting was great and the skits were funny, but it was those nonsensical interludes that killed me. One notable part that stands out in my mind was when two actors sat on the stage and took turns making strange noises and repeating random words. One of the girls, for instance, was simply shouting numbers for what seemed like hours to me. During this period, my friend leaned over and whispered that she wanted to shoot herself.
Another such tangent occurred when the cast lined the sides of the audience and simultaneously let out moaning sounds accompanied by hip thrusts into the air.
Maybe there was some sort of hidden meaning behind all of it, but some times were more obvious than others. Every actor in the show was entertaining and had a lot of energy, and most of the little pieces they performed were entertaining. However, one would have to appreciate the chaotic repetitiveness of the performance as a whole to enjoy this unique form of expression.
“Scintille Futuriste” will run through March 24 at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday at the Studio Theatre located in the Theatre Arts Building.
