Review: THE AVES at Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Jiehae Park’s World Premiere of her memory play the aves is gorgeously presented with a remarkable scenic design by visual artist Marsha Ginsberg. That the setting, and some fanciful avian puppetry by Erik Sanko becomes the focal point of the play is problematic. The story, set in a number of vignettes, involves two elders (Bill Buell, Mia Katigbak), apparently partners for fifty years, sitting on a park bench having a mundane conversation about pigeons and the weather. In scene two, as far as I could discern, the older woman has exchanged her body for a young Black woman’s. Later, that same woman meets an athletic young man (Daniel Croix) who might just be the old man.

I remember a sweet episode of the old Twilight Zone series (The Trade-ins, 1962) with an aged couple desiring young, nubile replacement bodies. When only one can exchange, the two decide its better to remain as they are. The message there was clear, not so in the aves. In scene after scene the characters shift, the focus lost on the message Park in reaching for. At one point the old woman meets her younger self and I was confused. The old man meets his younger self as well, at least I think he did.

When the younger woman (Laakan McHardy) loses her memories, I gave up hope of trying to understand what was transpiring and just let the scenes play out. There was a beautiful rain, a thunder and lightning storm, and some cute anthropomorphized pigeons. The advance press says the play is a rumination of “the beauty of our relationships to our bodies and our minds.” I missed the point.

the aves continues through June 8th. Tickets available at berkeleyrep.org or by calling 510-647-2949.

Photo credits: Ben Krantz Studio, Knud Adams