BWW Preview: DramaDogs Presents DANCE ME TO THE END OF LOVE: a Theatrical Mix-tape

There was a time when the most expressive, intimate love letter one could send or receive was a mix-tape, a collection of music carefully chosen to exemplify an emotion that couldn't be communicated so succinctly with words as it could with song lyrics. In a similar and fascinating fusion of intention, E. Bonnie Lewis and Ken Gilbert of DramaDogs have created a mix-tape of their own: their newest production, Dance Me to the End of Love (which opens at Center Stage on September 26th), is a precisely organized compilation of eight short one-acts by E. M. Lewis. DramaDogs's production is a stylized anthology molded together to articulate linking thematic elements between the plays: though each piece introduces unique characters and situations, the cohesive unit of Dance Me to the End of Love presents the importance and magnitude of the impact of human relationships. For example, in the segment titled Ask Roberto, a television chef answers a call from a fan desperate for help with her chicken cacciatore. That cacciatore is more than a meal; it's a gateway to rekindling desire in her stagnating marriage. Roberto has experience in both the literal and the figurative significances behind the creation of the cacciatore, and the two characters are, for a brief time, connected through food and heartbreak.

Playwright E. M. Lewis says that an essential question addressed in her work is "how do we go on?" This query signifies a turning point in a character's life; a moment when the proverbial wall has been hit and a new strategy becomes imperative to compensate for an evolving situation. After having the opportunity to witness some of the rehearsal process for this show and discuss certain staging details with the directors, I'm looking forward to a production that utilizes movement-based storytelling to emphasize the importance of these moments in which the momentum of a character's life is altered. Each segment of Dance Me to the End of Love is a ten-minute window of time indicative of a character's entire life-it presents people on the brink of discovery, of exposure. Gilbert and Lewis are creating a performance that is designed to be more than a dance shared amongst plays; the rich visual metaphors and detailed choreography are a tango of seduction that promises to be complex and sensual. Dance Me To The End Of Love is an intimate production that gently but decisively exposes layers of attraction, exhilaration, dejection, and desperation, and highlights each character's search for a more thorough understanding of these elaborate human reactions.

DramaDogs presents Dance Me to the End of Love
September 26-October 5, 2014
@ Center Stage Theater, Santa Barbara
www.centerstagetheater.org

Directed by Ken Gilbert and E. Bonnie Lewis
Featuring: George Coe, Ken Gilbert, E. Bonnie Lewis, Kathy Marden, Jennifer Marco, Mack Urbanowicz, and Eric Valinsky (music).
www.dramadogs.org

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