The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk

The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk is an interesting play with music, not because of any particularly contrived story or abstract characters, but because it's an interesting biography of a world famous artist. Marc Chagall, the expressionist, identified himself as Jewish first and Russian second. And this is why Theater J elected to open their season with this piece, which I ended up liking more than expected, even if the pieces aren't all together yet.

Daniel Jamieson's piece is a memory play two-hander about Chagall, chronicling his life from small-town origins to international renown (though none in his home country of Belarus). Now, I refer to it as a two-hander because most of the action involves him and his longtime partner, Bella (also of Vitebsk), but it would be a discredit to not mention two musicians who fill in for other names and voices. The plot itself is not particularly remarkable: Chagall basically recaps his life over the phone, showing his relationship with art, his wife, and his Judaism. Unfortunately, it doesn't make the case that he's a particularly interesting character despite these -- I was much more invested in the plight of Bella (in no small part because her plight is largely the same, with a dash of marital neglect). At times it veers into "I'm an asshole, boo-hoo me!" territory, which doesn't help the case. Somewhere through the besmudged script, there is something that depicts this artist with reverence and clarity, and I think the piece has legs through it. It's just a big hard to see right now.3/10

Jamie Smithson and Dani Stoller make for a complementary bunch as Marc and Bella, though I found Stoller's performance more compelling, featuring more wrought emotion and complexity. Smithson's character's writing does him no favors, but the ceiling remained pretty high and more gristle would have helped him reach it.7/10

The angular staging (by Misha Kachman) relies a lot on movement in a notable way. The two titular lovers are blocked back and forth along the proscenium as they ever were -- with some poppy costumes by Frank Labovitz. Where things get interesting is the "flying". (If you're hoping to see Dani Stoller fling herself around the space on cables a-la The Lost Boys, you might be a little disappointed.) The clever part of this staging is the use of two aerialists that contort themselves in to a suspended frame behind the principal actors, reflecting the dynamic scenes of life that informed Chagall's art. Combined with stellar projection work by Camilla Tassi, the artistic element is vividly realized.8/10

There is a lot more to this show than the audience-facing elements let on before the curtain rises, and I think it hurts it. For starters, the key art that Theater J has been using is quite good objectively, but doesn't capture the spirit or the messaging of the show more than it does the floaty feels of it. What is Vitebsk? Who are the Lovers? It evokes The Notebook. but without any direct or indirect information as to the connection these Flying Lovers provide to either themselves or the audience. Such does not appear in the staging, either, with a curtain, some spotlights, and what appears to be a trapeze apparatus. It all comes into use, and at least makes partial sense later on, but struggles to capture what makes the show shine.1/10