They had me at the horse.
Early in The Rogue Theatre’s production of “Mistake of the Goddess,” a talking horse enters the stage and the story.
He has the body of a man (David Greenwood’s body), as well as a troubled soul that feels deeply. And he is trapped in this land between two worlds — horse and human. Conflicts between worlds — men and women, head and heart, different social classes — are a theme throughout the play.
Matt Cotton designed the horse’s head, large with nostrils that look to flare and a long, elegant snout. And Greenwood knew how to convey much with a few words, body language, and that head. Unfortunately, Rogue lost me not long after the horse made his brief appearance. There were moments that drew me back in, but the play moved at a too languid pace and, with a few exceptions, lacked the energy needed to make it compelling.
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“Mistake of the Goddess,” an Indian play by Girish Karnad, tells a traditional tale from that country, employing Western-style theater.
It has variations of a Greek chorus. It often breaks the fourth wall. And it uses music, masks and pantomime to tell the story of two good friends in love with the same woman. Devadatta (Ryan Parker Knox), a poet, scholar and a member of a moneyed, honored caste in India, is married to Padmini (Marissa Garcia). Devadatta’s longtime friend Kapila (Matt Bowdren), a laborer with a buff body and rough hands, often hangs with Padmini and Devadatta. She lusts after Kapila. And he her. This leads to a double suicide — the friends, in their despair over their love for the same woman, cut their own heads off.
Padmini begs the goddess Kali to bring them back to life. The goddess complies, instructing Padmini on how to reattach the heads. In her haste, Padmini switches the heads and opens up a world of grief for all three of them.
The script is peppered with humor, and there are moments that are pure joy. Most of those moments centered on Patty Gallagher. Her portrayal of the multiarmed Kali gives us a goddess who has a solid sense of humor about herself. Later in the play, she portrays one of a pair of dolls — the dolls were a small-scale Greek chorus filling us in on the story – and she and David Morden, the other doll, infused their scenes with an almost kinetic energy, demanding the audience perk up.
The play was visually gorgeous — beautiful saris, masks, and an impressive image of Ganesha (also by Cotton) contributed to the look; the music was sublime, and the story rich. But the production came off as ponderous, a bit too self-conscious, to allow getting lost in the play.
Three years ago, The Rogue opened its season with another Karnad play, “Naga Mandala (Play With a Cobra).” That time, the production soared.
But “Mistake of the Goddess,” despite valiant efforts by the actors and musicians, never quite clicked.
The Rogue’s willingness to break out of the western mold and bring us theater that rarely gets an airing here is admirable. It’s brave. Even when it doesn’t pay off, and it doesn’t here, the courage to stage unexpected works such as “Mistake” is wildly applauded.
