Review: OCEAN FILIBUSTER at the American Repertory Theater Leaves Audiences Confused and Guilty

When I walked into the American Repertory Theater for OCEAN FILIBUSTER, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The marketing made mention of a Mr. Majority, the Ocean, and an ocean choir. I knew that this was going to be a performance about the climate crisis. However, I don't think anything could have prepared me for the two hour and fifteen minute spectacle I was about to witness.

Before I continue with my review, I want to acknowledge the hard work that was put in by the artists involved. I am sure this production was no easy feat and their hard work is evident.

When you walk into the theatre you are greeted by a large, sterile white, senate chamber looking set. During the pre-show there are slideshows of images from nature presented on both ends of the wall. Vauge, motivational sayings were also projected onto the wall. Dead center of the wall was a sign reading "Global Federation of Humans on Earth." The show starts with an introduction by a character who I don't think had a name (played by Evan Spigelman). He tells us that we are in the future, how far into the future is unknown. It is a future where the climate crisis is out of control and the sea levels have risen drastically. We are at a global senate hearing for a new bill. The unnamed character introduces Mr. Majority (played by Jennifer Kidwell). Mr. Majority is your standard politician. He introduces us to a bill which would take the ocean and pump some of it into the middle of the Earth, some into Space, and relocate the rest to parts of the Earth that are more convenient to the humans. The introduction of the bill is full of propaganda, trying to make humans seem like they are the victims in the climate situation. At the end of the introduction to the bill the floor is opened for debate and that's when the Ocean (also played by Kidwell) appears. This is the moment when things start to get confusing and I started to constantly ask myself "what is going on?"

The biggest source of my confusion was the decision to have the roles of the Ocean and Mr. Majority played by the same performer. In an article in the Boston Globe, Christopher Wallenberg writes, "Having one actor embody both Mr. Majority and the Ocean serves to underline the interconnected nature of the relationship between humans and the ocean." While I understand and see this point, it doesn't exactly play out. Kidwell does a good job at embodying both characters but the direction by Kaite Pearl and the costuming by Olivera Gajic did not work in Kidwell's favor. The only thing that distinguishing Mr. Majority and the Ocean was a pair of glasses that Mr. Majority wore, except he didn't always wear them. The dialogue often left Kidwell jumping back and forth, trying hard to make it clear they were playing two separate characters. This led to many sloppy moments.

The script (written by Lisa D'Amour) and music (by Sxip Shirey, with lyrics by D'Amour and Shirey) also left a lot to be desired. There was a lot of information and facts thrown at the audience and quite often it felt like the Ocean was trying to make us feel dumb or trying to increase the audience's level of guilt about how they live their lives. I do not disagree that climate change is an issue but I feel there is a better way of presenting the information and creating a call to action. My biggest gripe of the production is the fact that we are finally brought to this big dramatic climax; the lights are red, the sound is tense, there is a lot of yelling between Kidwell's two characters. Then all of the sudden the lights turn white and Kidwell simply says something along the lines of "so that's it" and recaps everything we just heard.

The lack of a live band for this performance was quite obvious. Kidwell's okay vocals were accompanied by less okay midi tracks. Overall, the music for this show didn't work. I feel as though Shirey tried to use multiple genres to say "hey look what I can do" when they should have focused on one or two genres and used them as a guide for the music in the show. The songs felt disconnected and didn't quite fit in.

The highlights of the evening were the projections and the Ocean Choir. The projections by Tal Yarden were the star of the show. They were absolutely stunning and I would pay just to sit in a theatre and watch those, though at times they did distract from the show. The Ocean Choir (consisting of Marshall Hughes, Jennifer Kidwell, Rachel Share-Sapolsky, Emerson Sieverts, Evan Spigelman, Dawn L. Hughes, and Nia Weeks) in my opinion did not get enough stage time or music. Their voices melded together beautifully, often singing extremely dissonant chords with precision.

Overall, I feel the PearlDamour team had a lot to say but didn't know how to say it. With a lot of tweaking and fine tuning, this show may have potential but I don't believe it works in its current iteration. At the end of the show, as I got up from my seat and looked around, I could sense I was not alone in my confusion.

OCEAN FILIBUSTER is being presented now through March 13th at the American Repertory Theater. Tickets and more information can be found on the ART website.

Photo by: Maggie Hall

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