The Singing Sphere

Edward A Kliszus
April 28, 2023
Edward A Kliszus, New York Night Life, Off Broadway, Theater Review

Rating

 4.6/5

In the Singing Sphere, seven women materialized into an intermediate assignation, a liminal space between two earthly lives, in a state where one’s consciousness is disconnected from a physical body. We then viewed a dreamscape setting of emerging, horrifying hallucinations associated with one’s refined reality experiences.

Literary, Poetic, and Sophisticated

The production opened with a stark stage, a dim penumbra enveloped with inscrutable, discordant, and eerie soundscapes. The opening verse was markedly literary, poetic, and sophisticated, setting the tone for the evening’s badinage.

L-R: Daniella Hauser, Sonia Villani, Lisa Giobbi in The Singing Sphere. Photo by Nonoka Sipos Judit

Existential Chimera

The troupe comprised a seemingly incongruent ensemble. Meanwhile, six of the seven voiced regrets and grief while trapped in this hazy, existential chimera. Are truth and reality otherwise constructed fiction? Belem particularly lacked family, while Mags could not process the “darker sides of the world.” Nonetheless, Liv’s challenge was to accept herself, while Blanka sought self-worth. Ruth moreover lacked compassion, and Miriam grieved at the loss of a child. The next and seventh, an “Entertainer In the Corner,” was a “catalyst of interaction.”

Mystical Radiance

The production emerged as an entertaining admixture of incorporeal, intellectual, and mystical radiance. Moreover, the dialectics of the characters’ discourse elicited passion and empathy. The markedly sartorial elegance of the smiling, dancing Entertainer contrasted with the shadowy monochromatic costuming of her comrades. The Entertainer otherwise provided smiles and timely relief to the vicissitudes of disconsolate repartee.

Dramatic Aplomb

The dramatic aplomb, soundscapes, blocking, choreography, lighting, and sound were elegantly articulated. Indeed, each actor ably maintained her character regardless of stage position to ensure a consistent dramatic, artistic rectitude.

L-R: Daniella Hauser, Sam Flynn, Tatyana Kot, Michelle Best, Lisa Giobbi in The Singing Sphere. Photo by Nonoka Sipos Judit

Some Favorite Quotes

The Geometry of Our Next Iteration

Belem: “Eternity is a long time, even with people you love.” “I’m on a threshold that wasn’t here a little while ago.”

Miriam: “I saved those happy little drawings: white cloud, blue raindrops, yellow sun. Bright green grass that’s kissed again and again with everything it needs in precise measure.”

Blanka: “Our choices at every point make the angle that comes next, determine the geometry of our next iteration.”

Utterly Compact Universe

Mags: “I remember like it was this morning, that feeling of promise when I met my son. So many decades now. His little body wriggling with life, his vibrating wails. An utterly compact universe, ready to expand.”

Entertainer: “A yin goddess must carry the flame. Light it in her sisters. This means taking time to fill her own cup, nourish her own well-being, prioritize her bodily integrity.”

A surreal, colorful landscape with a singing sphere posted in The Singing Sphere and published in OpeningNight.Online. Digital art by Edward Kliszus

A surreal, colorful landscape with a singing sphere. Digital art by Edward Kliszus

Internet and Climate Control

Ruth: “Blame yourself that you can’t live in a world without high-speed Internet and climate control, without two pieces of certainty to rub together.”

Liv: “To be a plant, animal, mineral in the world, inhabiting creation. To be one among them, that loud number, a droplet subsumed by the sea.”

Provocative, and Introspective

The Singing Sphere was entertaining, intellectually engaging, imaginative, provocative, and introspective. It seemed, after all, that one might evolve to a better state. We enjoyed a sojourn of hope and infinite beauty through this collective stream of eloquent consciousness and literary effusion.