Possessed by ‘The Black Rider’

Theater Review

Most people go to the theater to see a show that will transport them to a different place or time, to step out of their own reality or fantasy and into someone else’s. But when you go see “The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets,” playing at the Ahmanson Theatre, you’d better be prepared for a full-body experience. The musical fable is the artistic collaboration of avant-garde director Robert Wilson, singer/songwriter/composer Tom Waits and Beat writer William S. Burroughs, who died in 1997. But the production feels like it belongs mostly to Wilson (“Einstein on the Beach”), who also designed the set and lighting. So, if you resist selling your soul to Wilson, you might not make it to intermission. Wilson uses grand-scale scenery, shadow and psychedelic light to create a surreal atmosphere for “The Black Rider,” which is based on Carl Maria von Weber’s German Romantic opera “Der Freisch’tz” (“The Free-Shooter”). The show premiered in Germany at Hamburg’s Thalia Theater in 1990. In the contemporary retelling of this Faustian tale, Wilhelm, a young clerk, accepts magic bullets from the diabolical Pegleg in order to win a shooting contest and the hand of his true love, K’thchen, a woodsman’s daughter. The text, lyrics and images foreshadow the fate of these star-crossed lovers, but the story takes unexpected turns and becomes increasingly wild and dark with every whip of Pegleg’s tuxedo tails. Trees that look like giant, uneven paper cutouts collapse from top to bottom and then later appear upside down. Shooting becomes an amusement, like a carnival game with loud sound effects that go off when the player hits his mark. The highly theatrical production begins like a cabaret, with the characters introduced as “freaks of nature,” and continues to entice the audience with its vaudevillian humor. Wilhelm (Matt McGrath) is, of course, the leading act. McGrath dances with grace and ease even when his partner is the rifle slung across his chest. He also proves to be a smooth and skillful mime, acting out his character’s curiosity and desperation. Like the other characters that inhabit this misty forest world, Wilhelm has a powder-white face and vampire-red lips. But he is the least creepy of the zombie-like creatures, who emerge from a coffin that rises and turns upright in center stage. Leading the crew, as a ringmaster of sorts, is Pegleg, played by the dynamic Vance Avery, who creeps across stage with a slow limp and a dangerously seductive gaze. Actor Nigel Richards is particularly awesome to watch in his three-part role. He plays the hunting boy that K’thchen’s father, Bertram (Dean Robinson), would have liked his daughter to marry, and he howls and screeches like an animal, echoing Bertram and predicting Wilhelm’s struggle. The twisted love story of Wilhelm and K’thchen unfolds tenderly yet comically, as they perform a song-and-dance number in the air, floating awkwardly back and forth but never quite meeting. Actress Mary Margaret O’Hara cleverly portrays the distraught, lovesick K’thchen, singing in an exaggeratedly high-pitched tone and often appearing breathless. She shines during her solo “I’ll Shoot the Moon.” While some audiences will embrace this powerful sensory experience, others might find the production’s stylized beauty and Expressionist storytelling techniques overwhelming. The show is also quite long and the second half is partially performed in slow motion, which adds to its hallucinatory intensity. One thing is clear: Wilhelm is not the only one possessed by magic bullets. “The Black Rider” runs through June 11 at the Ahmanson Theatre. Tickets are available by calling (213) 628-2772 or online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org.