Willamette Week, October 8, 2003
by Steffen Silvis
More a meditation through movement and music, Liminal’s latest performance piece allows audience members to wander through quadrants (designated both by the four elements and the four primary compass points) of the Faust story, from the doctor’s unquenchable thirst for knowledge to the consignment of his soul to damnation. The choice, however, is yours as to which part of the story to linger over. Three performers (Leslie Goodwin, Georgia Luce, Jeff Marchant), three chorus members (director Bryan Markovitz, Linda Miles, Ammon Morris) and two musicians (John Berendzen, Frank Marroquin) alchemically combine to form numerous reactions to the Faustian theme. The chorus, ranging from John Adams-like minimalism to Gregorian chant, observes (and comments upon) the action from a small stage, while the performers swirl around a center made up of an upright piano, organ and xylophone. The piece is constructed in such a way that audience members are welcome to arrive and depart at will over a two-hour period. But for those who choose to stay for the full performance, there are rewards in watching how various elements are reinterpreted as the music, singing and movement collide in different ways. It all ends with bells, appropriately, and one is left with the feeling of having been part of an elemental experience. This is theater at its most ritualistic.
Current News
Features
Resurrectory preview
Portland Tribune, May 5, 2005
Death, Drama, Deconstruction
Portland Mercury, May 4, 2005
Cult of the Liminal
Portland Mercury, April 17, 2003
Liminal Fills Its New Space With A Little Show
Willamette Week, Feb. 21, 2003
Liminal Puts a Modern Spin on Brecht/Weill
The Oregonian, August 23, 2002
The Seven Deadly Sins
Portland Mercury, August 29, 2002
The Seven Deadly Sins
Portland Tribune, August 30, 2002
Artbeat segment on Liminal
OPB, May 2001 [.mov]
Ad for the Artbeat segment on Liminal
OPB, May 2001
Where Text Meets Technology
The Oregonian, April 22, 2001
The New School
Willamette Week, Sept. 15, 1999
Letters to the Editor
Willamette Week, Nov. 11 & 18, 1998
Reviews
The Hour We Knew Nothing Of Each Other
The Oregonian April 13, 2000
Articles by Liminal members
Past news releases
Liminal stages Caryl Churchill’s play Far Away
December 16, 2005
Liminal’s Resurrectory Re-Commits, Investigates 100-Year-Old Murders
March 28, 2005
High-resolution photos of The Resurrectory
Bikes, Bands and Bacchanalia Oct. 21, 2003
Faust(Faust) August 13, 2003
Krapp’s Last Tape June 28, 2003
Three Plays, Five Lives April 1, 2003
FluXconcert PDX March 17, 2003
Minimal at Liminal February 4, 2003
The Seven Deadly Sins August 7, 2002
Objects for the Emancipated Consumer (in Vancouver, B.C.) Oct. 4, 2001
Objects for the Emancipated Consumer (in Portland) April 4, 2001
Objects for the Emancipated Consumer (in Seattle) Jan. 22, 2001
Thomas Leabhart workshop Dec. 3, 1999
Jowl Movements I-IX (3) Oct. 28, 1998
Jowl Movements I-IX (1) Oct. 8, 1998
Handke Salmagundi March 16, 1998
Symposium on the Avant-Garde in Portland March 16, 1998
Suicide in B-flat July 1997
