Review: Finding Dylan in LADY LAY

It may be surprising and a little disappointing that one of the latest world premieres in the Women's Voices Theatre Festival is about a woman who fixates on a man to solve all her problems.

But in the case of the beleaguered bureaucrat in Lydia Stryk's LADY LAY in the Scena Theatre production at Atlas Performing Arts, it isn't a romantic fixation, but an artistic one.

MariAnne isn't the first person in the world to fall under the spell of Bob Dylan, whose poetic and prophetic output over several decades has hit a lot of people the same way: Spurred by a turn of phrase or a unique point of view, a listener goes deep into the canon, suddenly answering everyday in the riddles of his lyrics, hoarding every recording and related relic possible, and saving up to catch as many live shows as possible.

In MariAnne's case, Dylan also represents freedom that is in part reflected by the Berlin Wall going down around her. In fact, the end of the wall and reunification of Germany hasn't helped things much for the long line of familiar faces going to the Berlin Employment Office where she works.

But with Dylan under her belt she can at least try to recruit other fans to the music or at least relate to her colleagues and clientele in a different way.

Written as a kind of memoir, lead actress Ellie Nicoll is not only in every scene, she also narrates it when she isn't acting it out. By contrast, the eight others on stage juggle different roles as clients and bosses, teachers and lovers.

Nicoll is believable in her role as a frazzled bureaucrat, in part because she may be frazzled by the burden of conveying 90 percent of the play singlehandedly. So it's fitting that she constantly leafs through papers on her desk as a bureaucrat. But the pages also may be parts of the script or at least prompts to let her know where she is.

With a wide, manic smile and a rangy, comic body that brings to mind Jane Lynch, she dominates the piece the way you would expect. The only time when she stands down is when her character's idol suddenly appears.

Ron Litman's Dylan saunters out of the audience as if by magic - perfectly dressed in late 80s garb of wide black brim hat, leather pants, pencil thin mustache and shades (the cast did their own wardrobe hair and makeup).

His voice too evokes the very Dylan who lately is popping up in IBM commercials, droll, skeptical, utterly denying the importance and attention others heap on him, but a kindly presence nonetheless.

Stryk, born in the U.S. but living in Berlin most of her writing life, has trouble creating a shape for her play - where is MariAnne going with her newfound knowledge?

Even so, the long line of 1989 job applicants - Aniko Olah, Matt Dougherty, Jennifer Bevan and Edward Nagel and Madeleine Adele among them - reflect a lot of the same underemployed desperation common to modern day U.S.

Director Robert McNamara and sound designer Denise Renee mix up some striking mixes of dizzying Dylan - though I kept thinking that just one of his songs might have succeeded in showing the power he employed. (It was a little off-putting, too, when one of the recordings heard was the out of place "Graceland" by Paul Simon).

A whole other play could be written about any disappointments MariAnne might find in America should she get there and try and find freedom; she might find a populace less interested in Dylan than those in Germany.

Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission.

LADY LAY by the Scena Theatre, runs through Oct. 10 at Atlas Performing Arts center, 1333 H St NE, Washington D.C. Call 571-216-5136 or go online.

Photo: Ron Litman as Bob Dylan in Scena Theatre's LADY LAY. Photo by Kevin O'Reilly.

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