Review: AIRLINE HIGHWAY at DIRT DOGS THEATRE CO.
Take a trip to New Orleans at the MATCH
There are places that feel like nowhere else on earth, and Louisiana can sometimes be its own planet. Lisa D’Amour’s AIRLINE HIGHWAY drops us into New Orleans for one night in a place where tourists rarely go, where the down-on-their-luck locals live. She gathers together the unemployed, the addicted, the strippers, the prostitutes, and the forgotten for a party at the Hummingbird Motel. She gives us sketches of a group of people who make a family in the ruts that they are stuck in. She loves Louisiana; she adores these misfits, and she wants you to see them on their own terms. It’s almost a documentary; the dialogue (often overlapping) feels like you are overhearing bits and pieces of talk as it happens. Forget narrative, forget dramatic arcs, and forget feeling like you know everything. AIRLINE HIGHWAY works best as an experience, a happening.
AIRLINE HIGHWAY feels like a departure for Dirt Dogs, because it is more experimental in structure and delivery, far less narrative than anything they have ever done. It is directed by Malinda L. Beckham and Curtis Barber, and they do a great job of pacing the piece and giving it a lush feel. Sometimes it comes off more presentational than it should, but it walks this fine line of performative and natural. It makes for an interesting dichotomy, and I was fascinated by it. But I could feel some of the audience around me questioning the point and wondering why the characters weren't examined more deeply. You could ask, “Where is the drama?” But these people are not moving; they are stuck, and that is the point. They have accepted it and have come to be okay with it. The show asks you to do the same, and that might be a tall order for some. Sometimes the drama is the lack of action. The Motel is a family that is like a bucket of crabs. When one goes up, the others just may pull them down. The only plot we are given is that everyone has gathered for a “living funeral” for Miss Ruby, who once owned a burlesque club in the Quarter. They are throwing a party before she shuffles off this mortal coil. The first act is preparation in the hours before, and the second is the actual celebration.
There are four actors here who stand out, because they become the characters wholly and completely: David Osbie Shepard plays Terry (a not very handyman), Ashlyn Evans as Krista (a stripper), Todd Thigpen inhabiting Sissy Na Na (a joyous transgender drag queen), and Kyle Clark is Bait Boy (a man who escaped and is back). I believed every note they hit, and they became real people onstage. The rest of the cast is great at acting, but I could feel them behind the mask more than the just-mentioned quartet. Brad Goertz plays it sweet and blue-collar as Wayne, and this is an unexpected role for him. The same thing can be said for Elizabeth Marshall Black, who does a wonderful job with the aging “lady for hire”, Tanya. The actress performs the heck out of it, and it is effective, but it feels like a stretch. John Patterson feels rightfully defeated as the poet Francis, but that is the note that he plays and stays on. Deborah Hope is terrifically funny as Miss Ruby, and it’s easy to see her dying grand dame; she gives a lot of life, but it isn’t achingly real. Morgan Taylor Hughs plays an outsider dragged in, and she fits that. Everyone in here is a great actor, and admittedly, some of Houston’s best. But a few felt like they were playing a part, while a core group became the person. It was akin to watching a raw documentary and a great re-enactment at the same time. The actors create an interesting contrast between performance and reality.
AIRLINE HIGHWAY works best when it feels real, and I would say it does get there by the close of the second act. Mark A. Lewis’s double-decker motel set is about as authentic as you can get. Ash Parra’s lights are natural and never betray the feeling that this is happening in real time, and they give a sense of that passage. Trevor B. Cone’s sound design is a great mix of so many things you would hear in the French Quarter. Malinda Beckham’s costumes feel wonderfully lived in. Technically, you can always count on the DIRT DOGS to deliver. I felt like I was in a parking lot of a motel, and I was ready to eat some Cheetos and drink some beer with everybody.
AIRLINE HIGHWAY is a fascinating slice of life from Lisa D’Amour. It feels like we are watching everything happen in real time, and it seems so authentic to New Orleans. It has a wonderful sense of place. DIRT DOGS stretches their artistic vision and asks the cast to do the same. They create a fascinating production, and I enjoyed taking a trip to the Hummingbird Motel. It shows us something raw and real, a group of people who have learned how to navigate a hard road with the help of found family. These people love each other, and they aren’t asking you to return that sentiment. Because they are okay, they have each other. Sometimes that is all you need to make it. Let the good times roll!
AIRLINE HIGHWAY runs through June 6th at the MATCH. The show runs roughly two hours and has one fifteen-minute intermission. There is a concession stand in the complex that serves (ironically) beer and Cheetos. There are also a ton of options in the immediate area. Parking is plentiful, but pay attention to where it is paid and where it is not.
Picture of the cast provided by Olivia Knight.
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