More Highs Than Lows in '2.5 Minute Ride'

2.5 Minute Ride                                              

By Lisa Kron

Directed by M. Bevin O'Gara; Jarrod Bray, Scenic and Properties Design; Seth Bodie, Costume Design; Caleb Magoon, Lighting Design; Scott Nason, Sound Design; Aurora De Lucia, Stage Manager

Featuring Adrianne Krstansky as Lisa

Performances through October 24 at New Rep Downstage at Arsenal Center for the Arts Box Office 617-923-8487 or www.newrep.org

2.5 Minute Ride is a serio-comic roller coaster of emotions that will leave you holding your sides and gasping for breath one minute, and quietly contemplating the horrors of history the next. In the tradition of Jewish humor, Lisa Kron intertwines comedy and tragedy to tell three stories about her Midwestern family that resonate because of their universal humanity and her skill as a storyteller. Adrianne Krstansky stands in for Kron in the Downstage @ New Rep production and makes the material her own.

The one-woman show is directed by M. Bevin O'Gara, former Artistic Associate at New Rep. Having been involved with the development of this Black Box Theater, O'Gara understands how to involve the audience in the intimate space and sees to it that Krstansky engages with every corner of the room. Kron's format of the actress giving a talk as she presents a slide show about her father gives Krstansky permission to make eye contact with audience members and address them with a natural, conversational style. Although her descriptions of the blank slides projected on the big white screen are vivid and allow us to visualize our own perceptions of what she details, I would rather see some actual photos.

Kron's 75-year old father is a German immigrant whose parents perished in the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz in Poland. Having fulfilled her desire to look him in the eye and tell him she loves him, she has two things left on her "Things to do before my father dies" list, including traveling with him to the camp and making a video of his extraordinary life. The serious portion of the play is comprised of chilling, as well as poignant, tales from this trip. The other two, lighter themes focus on the wedding of Kron's devout Jewish brother and the annual extended family pilgrimage from their Michigan home to an Ohio amusement park. Many of the anecdotes are sprinkled with references to the playwright's experience as a lesbian and the differences between her family and that of her decidedly gentile partner Peg.

You will walk away from this one-act with the knowledge that family ranks high on Kron's list of values, but that does not make them immune to her humorous skewering, especially when she asserts that the real reason they travel to Cedar Point every year is for the food. You don't have to be Jewish to laugh at that revelation, but it certainly sounds familiar to those of us who are members of the tribe. Kron includes other examples of ethnic coding in her stories, but without making them exclusive. There are plenty of mothers who don't want to be photographed, daredevil fathers who pop nitroglycerin before plummeting to the depths on a ferocious roller coaster, and siblings who cause great consternation when they finally choose a life partner.

If there is one aspect of 2.5 Minute Ride that is more readily understood or felt by the Jewish members of the audience, it is the juxtaposition of comedy and tragedy or "laughter through tears." It is a coping mechanism that has served the Jewish people well through many types of adversity and oppression and helps keep them alive and hopeful. Although I find some of Kron's jumps from one thread to another a little jarring, she provides relief from the sadness felt on the Auschwitz tour with a sudden breathless account of the "Mean Streak," the new 2.5 minute roller coaster ride which she describes as something between a feeling of horror and Disneyland.

O'Gara and Krstansky take good care of Kron's story and augment its impact by their ability to involve the audience. With the assistance of sounds and lights, they engage our aural and visual senses along with our hearts and minds and we willingly embark on this journey through the Kron family album with them as our guides. It is a metaphorical roller coaster ride and that's just fine with me.  

 Photo: Adrianne Krstansky

 

 

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