Review: COSMICOMICS at The New Stage Theatre

Thematically expansive within its intimate performance space, the paradoxical primordial soup swirling in COSMICOMICS blends essential elements of earth, air, fire, and water with music, storytelling, ballet, and absurdist humor.

Based on 12 allegorical fantasy short stories written by Italian author Italo Calvino in 1965, the one-act play translated by William Weaver features a deep-timbred narrator Qfwfq (Paul Guilfoyle), who introduces a series of related stories in which mathematical formulae and cellular structures recall the evolution of the universe.

With lighting design by Federico Restrepo and animation/video design by Laia Cabrera and Isabelle Duverger, the digital color-saturated projections fill the white stage, floor, mirrored columns, and back wall with a moving narrative that includes the birth of light and color, the identity crises of creatures moving from sea to land, the inner lives of mollusks, and a beach party for the ages. From this complex content director Ildiko Nemeth captures the essence of evolution and biomimicry with bold creative flair. Although I didn't find the plot an easy one to follow, the trip through the galactic ooze was no snooze.

Gorgeously accessorized costumes by Olimpia Dior and Egle Paulauskaite add a mod vibe (the silvery fish scale jacket was everything) as we travel Qfwfq's journey. After childhood (the great unity before the Big Bang, when everything he loved was packed into a single point) he experiences life as a mollusk and enters the throes of love affairs and modern times.

The 90-minute, one-act show features captivating aerial work by Lisa Giobbi and an original score by John Gideon, Steven Wallace, and Kaylin Lee Clinton.

The cast: Paul Guilfoyle, Tanner Glenn, Jeanne Lauren Smith*, Jude Kondik, Theodore Bouloukos*, Justin Ivan Brown*, Markus Hirnigel, Danielle Aziza, Beth Griffith, Lisa Giobbi, Florencia Minniti, Yoni Kallai, Olimpia Dior.

(*These Actors are appearing courtesy of the Actors' Equity Association)