Home  Entertainment Reviews Review: Body Burden by Dale Dunn (Sept. 15)
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Review: Body Burden by Dale Dunn (Sept. 15) |
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Written by Barry Gaines
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Saturday, 15 September 2007 |
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Friday marked the world premiere of “Body Burden” by Dale Dunn at the Adobe Theatre. Director Lou Clark and her cast helped shape the play, and the result is a strong ensemble production of a provocative and insightful script.
Katie Pendleton— in her 40s —is a shattered woman. Her plans and dreams have gone up in mushroom clouds— as she overcame thyroid cancer but in the process lost her unborn baby and husband. She quits her unrewarding job in journalism and decides to return home to try to understand all that has gone wrong. On her drive home to Los Alamos, in the desert darkness, desperate Katie cries out in anguish, and her tormented entreaty is answered by long-dead J. Robert Oppenheimer, “the father of the atomic bomb,” and a 13-year-old girl scout from 1966 Toledo, both of whom materialize to help her. Katie’s physician father, Will, worked in the Los Alamos labs. Before quitting he took part in experiments to learn the “body burden,” the amount of radiation the body can safely absorb, by giving uninformed children (including Girl Scouts) doses of radioactive iodine. Iodine is essential to thyroid function. Will is filled with rage and emotionally abusive to Katie. Divorced from Will, Katie’s mother, Fran, lives in denial, dealing with superficiality rather than substance. Don Garcia plays David Lucero, a veterinarian from San Ildefonso Pueblo who went to school with Katie. His underwritten character provides a potential love interest. Another newcomer is 16-year-old Morgan Black who plays the time-traveling Girl Scout with resolve and charm. The remaining four actors are local veterans, and I have never seen them perform better. Ninette S. Mordaunt does a fine job with Fran, ever pouring coffee or dishing outdated eggs and worn aphorisms. Mordaunt effectively conveys Fran’s early choice not to ask too many questions. Perhaps Alan Hudson gives the dictatorial Will more humanity than he deserves, but his portrayal of this pivotal character raises interesting questions. As Oppenheimer, Vernon Poitras presents a man divided: the brilliant scientist exploring atomic physics without knowing exactly where his studies may lead and the peace advocate uncomfortable with the atomic bomb and the Cold War arms race that ensued. Laurie Lister presents Katie as wounded yet resilient, an excellent portrayal of a complex character. Not everything in Dunn’'s play works— including overwrought dialogue about foals and a wispy ending, —but she dramatically raises important questions. Is there such a thing as pure science? Can the ends justify the means in wartime? Will the bomb be used again? Dunn reminds us that the victims of the A-bomb were not all incinerated in Japan. Like isotopes, wounds can have a long half-life. Body Burden” by Dale Dunn at the Adobe Theater, 9813 Fourth NW, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through October 7. $12 general public, $10 seniors and students. Call 898-9222 for tickets
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About Reviewers D.S. Crafts (Website) Composer Daniel Steven Crafts came to New Mexico from San Francisco where he had hosted a classical music radio program on KPFA. His first commission from opera star Jerry Hadley, "The Song & the Slogan" based on texts by Carl Sandburg, was made into a TV program for the PBS network and aired nationally in 2004 and won an Emmy for Best Music. His latest opera La Llorona is a collaboration with novelist Rudolfo Anaya based on his play "The Season of La Llorona." Mr. Crafts is currently working on another commission from Jerry Hadley for a piece about the American Southwest which includes texts by Rudolfo Anaya and V.B. Price. Two CDs of his music, Contemporaries (short, satirical keyboard works) and ARIAS (excerpts from his various operas) have been released on the BACAT label in San Francisco.
David Steinberg David Steinberg has covered state government, the courts, city and county government in Santa Fe for the Albuquerque Journal. He's been an arts writer for the past 20 years, and serves as the book editor, for the Journal. Over the years, he's also acted in plays, sung in choruses and played trumpet.
Jennifer Noyer Jennifer Noyer has been writing dance reviews for the Albuquerque Journal for 17 years, as well as contributing articles for Dance Magazine and other art journals. She trained in dance with Hanya Holm in New York City and Colorado Springs, and studied several dance techniques at the graduate level at the University of Michigan. After teaching dance at Wayne State University she entered and completed a Masters Degree in Humanities there. In New Mexico Ms. Noyer has taught, directed, and choreographed contemporary dance for several years. Her writing on dance includes a monograph accompanying the video of choreographer Bill Evens’ ballet “The Legacy.” An overview of Evans’s world wide career, it was written and published during his tenure at the University of New Mexico. Ms. Noyer’s studies in the humanities, and her studio dance work influence her approach to dance as an integrative art form in the United States.
Barry Gaines Barry Gaines has taught Shakespeare in the University of New Mexico English Department for over twenty-five years and has received two outstanding teaching awards. He has written theater reviews for the Journal since 2000. He has attended theater all over the world including Shakespeare productions in Russia, South Africa, Denmark, and Poland. He has also served as literary advisor for two professional theater companies and written performance reviews for Shakespeare Quarterly. Gaines has taken two years of acting with Paul Ford and appeared in small parts in three plays at the Albuquerque Little Theater. He believes that he is probably a better reviewer than actor.
Joanne Sheehy Hoover Joanne Sheehy Hoover, music critic emeritus of the Albuquerque Journal, has written for NPR, PBS, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Symphony, among others. She has also been a music lecturer for the Smithsonian Associates and a music critic and arts writer for The Washington Post. She was director of the Levine School of Music, one of the country’s largest community music schools, in Washington, D. C. 1980-1993. She and her husband moved to Corrales, New Mexico in July 1993. Also a poet, her fifth collection, “Einstein in New Mexico,” was published in 2002.
Marissa Greenberg Marissa Greenberg is a member of the faculty of the University of New Mexico English Department, where she teaches Shakespeare and early English literature. A prior guest reviewer for the Albuquerque Journal, Greenberg will be reviewing theater while Barry Gaines is out of town. She also composed and edited the program notes for last year’s Albuquerque Shakespeare Festival and has written performance reviews for Shakespeare Bulletin. A graduate of Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania, Greenberg has been performing and studying drama for most of her life. She is thrilled to have this opportunity to review for the Journal.
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