The Oregonian - June 19, 1999

by Richard Wattenberg

Judging from the recently opened production of Liminal’s “The Evening with the Photograph,” avant-garde, experimental theater is alive and well in Portland.

Toying with theatrical conventions and audience expectations, the production provides adventurous theatergoers with eccentric mind-teasing entertainment.

Written, arranged and directed by Bryan Markovitz, the play ostensibly revolves around the mysterious life of Clyde Buxworthy (Amanda Boekelheide), who was also the focus of Liminal’s last piece, “Jowl Movements I-IX.” In its exploration of a space where science and aret as well as reality and illusion meet, Buxworthy reveals himself to be a herself.

Structurally, the piece is complex. It is, in fact, a world within a world within a play. We accompany Buxworthy’s friend Morgan (Jennifer Olson), who with the assistance of Dr. Saxe (Christoph Saxe) enters a different reality, where she joins Buxworthy in the creation of a pseudo science radio show. Under the auspices of Max (Rich Southwick) and Friedrich (Trent Moore), the show is meant to disseminate Buxworthy’s theories of quantum art, an art that bridges order and chaos.

Confusing? Yes. But the play, saves itself both from complication overload and pretentiousness by calling attention to its own bizzare nature. At one point, Trent Moore, seemingly stepping out of character, humorously notes the tension between the play’s convoluted action and the need for accessibility.

The small company of five does a fine job of filling the Rose City Ballroom. In this regard, credit should go to movement director Amanda Boekelheide.

[Evening] captures the complexity of the contemporary or postmodern sensibility. The lines separating science from art, order from chaos and illusion from reality disappear. Intellectual comprehension gives way to movement and flow.

The Evening with the Photograph (1999)

Liminal returned in summer 1999 to present The Evening with the Photograph, an original work that continued Liminal’s exploration of synthetic and hallucinatory theatre The Evening with the Photograph was an ever-changing mystery that explored the lives of five characters trapped in various parallel worlds. The different worlds of the play were connected by Dr. Saxe, a scientist living on the border between genius and insanity. As Dr. Saxe’s experiments progressively fail, the performers and audience are led along a course of events that question the nature of gesture, performance and the point at which the virtual becomes real. The random sequencing of scenes within the show (or metaphorically, the dance along the artery) meant that each night was a truly unique experience, with an outcome that was never fully predictable.

The Evening with the Photograph was performed in Northeast Portland in an old ballroom. The show brought together Liminal’s usual stable of talent. Bryan Markovitz wrote and directed. Amanda Boekelheide directed movement. John Berendzen designed sound. Trent Moore designed set and lights. Julie Burtis designed costumes, and Liminal’s regular company members made up the cast.

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