Review
Seattle CitySearch
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Tuesday, January 18, 2000
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L'Universe
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By Starla Smith
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In a gravitational funk? Brush up your physics with the Flying Brothers Karamozov, the homegrown Northwest juggle-mongers who have now put a new spin on some old subjects: gravity, relativity and the speed of light. "L'universe," pronounced loony-verse for the French-impaired, finds the Brothers going into new territory with an ambitious technological show. | |
Directed by ACT's Gorden Edelstein and aided by some whiz-kid techies from the Media Lab at MIT, the Brothers K. juggle particles and quantum physics terms in an interactive, back-to-school approach to the mysteries of the universe. With a high-tech bag of tricks and eccentric banter, this 80-minute performance caters to brainy Mensa types, but throws in the Brothers' usual off-the-wall, less-scholarly spontaneity for the rest of us dunces in the audience.
The high-tech scenes can be highly innovative, drawing upon virtual juggling, glow-in-the-dark effects, improv-jazz juggling, interactive video and multimedia effects that push the envelope. Arising like a monolith from the back wall of the set is a crescent-shaped screen against which MIT technology projects assorted images for the Brothers to play with while they juggle or cavort with musical instruments. Though the projected images don't always correspond with the stage action, "L'universe" remains highly amusing - and occasionally downright silly. One scene is worthy of Atlas, as the shadow of one Brother wrestles with a laser-light sphere that changes size with each shrug.
During the show, the Fabulous Four scientific icons are brought back to life, namely, Sir Isaac Newton, Galileo, Aristotle, and Time magazine's millennium man, Albert Einstein. The Brothers portray these geniuses, arriving in period costumes and wigs as they share a "Cliffs Notes" take on cosmological forces and Einstein's infamous "energy equals mass times the speed of light squared." The four scientists disagree and debate with Aristotle - always the "all things in moderation" man - being playfully put in his place.
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| There's plenty of fun for the scientifically challenged, especially when Paul "Dimitri" Magid assumes Einstein's persona and teaches the audience about the balances in gravitational force, by asking everyone to change seats. As always, Magid proves the master of quick-witted repartee and manages to pry diverse grown-ups out of their seats to switch places with their neighbors. The moment is nearly worth the price of admission, which may seem a little steep for those who aren't royals in the Northwest high-tech set. |
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The segment that jockeys for the tour-de-force claim of the evening - but doesn't achieve full glory - is "Floor Board," in which the Brothers K. don high-tech leather jackets and aviator-like skullcaps equipped with sonar transducers and accelerometers. (Hang on. This gets tech-heady.) These gizmos transmit data to a computer, which produces sounds that vary in pitch and volume, depending on what the Brothers are physically doing and where they're standing - and projects colors upon the back screen. With such a multimedia instrument at their collective disposal, the Brothers move through a rather slow version of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," then launch into an original piece of New Age music. After an evening of such high-tech fodder, a familiar score might have been more enjoyable. The too-brief segment holds a kernel of promise in the realm of music and color fusion - with a few more practice sessions on the floorboards.
There is a serious, spiritual side to "L'universe," as when the Brothers create a haunting musical number using mallets and giant, swinging pendulum-bells. Weaving in and out of the swinging bells, the roving Brothers create a tonal pattern worthy of a Tibetan master.
In the final moments of the performance, the Brothers show off their physical dexterity as they juggle and play a single woodwind instrument as a team. Intertwining their arms, with one holding the instrument while another plays, they synchronize their movements to achieve a fine feat of agility - one that the open-minded, eccentric Einstein might have adored. With such a hybrid of concepts and comedy, he surely would have played his own well-known violin.
Original Article at CitySearch
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