REVIEW: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Signature)
World Pride hits DC in about a month. What the hell? Already?
Though it remains to be seen if (or rather, by how much) the Recent State of Everything will impact attendance, local theatres are moving ahead with their programming anyway; which is exactly what they should be doing. As the arts get more and more restricted by the hour, transgressive and and loud performance pieces are what we need. Turn the volume up even louder! And Signature’s contribution is just that: John Cameron Mitchell’s rock-n-roll rodeo Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Consider the assignment (largely) understood.
Book/Music
This is the sort of Pride material I like to see. Playwright John Cameron Mitchell has used elements of his upbringing as a military brat to tell the story of a genderqueer glam rocker from East Germany who, with her begrudged partner Yitzhak, seeks revenge on an ex-lover who stole her songs (and is incidentally playing them at an adjoining venue). It’s genuinely engaging and emotional plot for a two-hander with such an abstract premise, and Stephen Trask’s score is pretty effective at translating it to a rocky barrage. Though some of the melodies felt truncated, and some lyrics drafty, it ultimately proves to be quite the catchy and attention-grabbing experience. 7/10
Acting
Is it bad when the most acting charisma in the show comes from the backing band? Hedwig, a loose agglomeration of wise-cracks played by Sawyer Smith, is assuredly fiesty, but I found myself detached from her erratic take on the character. Often it felt much more like crowd work at a drag show than that of a character-driven punk narrative, and the franticness of her performance in the final scenes felt abrupt. Conversely, V Sterling’s Yitzhak I thought improved at a similarly logarithmic rate, being mostly subdued throughout the piece when he is supposed to be hiding this raw, powerful talent underneath his flannel prison; but then when he explodes with all this potential, it’s still Hedwig who feels like the center of attention, seemingly in direct contrast with the message of acceptance of one’s purpose and identity. This all being said, there are tons of local performers I think would bring a more authentic aura to this piece, and I have half a brain to return for an understudy performance, featuring DMVers Christian Montgomery and Deema Turkomani. 5/10
Production
Erik Teague can’t keep getting away with this. The venerated DC costume designer was handed a blank check for one of the most expressive musicals ever made, and boy, has he delivered. Hedwig’s costumes are loud and crafty, spunky and bright, eye-catching from the minute she enters with a hodgepodged recycling bin of Americana. The same even goes for the band — led by another local favorite, Marika Countouris — all dressed to the 666’s. The travesty mostly lies in the fact that the show’s 90-minute runtime means you have to constantly dart your eyes to soak in all the details between these outfits, K Rudolph’s engrossing lights, and all the little trinkets and doodads floating around Richie Ouellette’s set. Utilmately, it’s Ethan Heard’s direction that refocuses the essence of pride into an act of protest, using this pragmatic piece to fluidly match this World Pride’s tone shift from one of celebration to one of resistance. 9/10
Viz
It’s been a while since I’ve seen a welcome-to-the-show pulled of this well — and that’s even including Signature’s recent In the Heights, whose immersive rincon was amazingly put together. For Hedwig, the vibe is apparent before you even get your ticket scanned. Upon entry you’re greeted with a very DIY threshhold, with punk records on a turntable to your left and a box of sexual (and non-!) health aids such as earplugs, condoms, pregnancy tests, and even Plan B; all things potentially under threat of non-access, and provided 100% free to you, an audience member. This is a smart tactic that immediately reminds the viewer of the origins of Punk and its anti-establishment DNA. But it gets better: to get to your seat, you have to mozy down a corridor plastered with miscellaneous bulbs, drag/kiki posters, and other forms of illicit art that are unapologetically talking at you. In 2017, Great Comet used a similar tactic by welcoming audience members into what appeared to be a Cold War bunker, to provide contrast between its Imperial opulence on the main stage. Except at Signature’s ARK theatre, what you see is what you get. And what you get is a seedy-ass dive where the sonic thrashing is hitting every square centimeter of your eardrums, creating such quality immersion that you’ll wonder how the speakers aren’t unraveling your atoms with every vibration. (Best put those free earplugs to use.) 10/10
Verdict
Hedwig is fun, if not groundbreaking; but Signature puts together a pleasantly diverting thrash-a-thon that leans into what Pride was intended to be. 31/40
