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Music Gives Kick to `God's Donkey' Traveling Jewish Theatre stages moving drama about Moses Steven Winn, Chronicle Theater Critic |
Wednesday, October 18, 2000
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When it comes time for Moses to summon the Israelites to the Promised Land in ``God's Donkey,'' a bracing new biblical drama at A Traveling Jewish Theatre, he can barely get a word out. Aaron Davidman plays the Old Testament titan as a man reduced to stuttering by the enormity of his calling. ``Remember walking,'' he finally manages. ``Remember freedom.'' Then a violin takes over, soaring into anguish and affirmation more eloquent than any speech. Daniel Hoffman's wonderful music is the transforming element in this premiere, co-written by Davidman, director Corey Fisher and Eric Rhys Miller. Feverish fiddle solos, blues, Hebrew chants and Broadway-style production numbers -- for a cast of two -- give this ``play on Moses'' its expressive range and emotional pull. Davidman and Miller enact the 80-minute piece, using burlap, head scarves and a few other minimal costume pieces and props to portray multiple characters. Miller does God in sunglasses and a hip demeanor, with the burning bush inside a pulsating fabric sheath. Davidman slips out of his Moses role to play a kvetching slave, a midwife and other parts. Hoffman is onstage as well, with a violin, electric guitar and several other tools of his trade. He's both virtuosic and tactful, serving ``God's Donkey'' with a full measure of his talent as a theater musician. The biblical narrative unfolds in short vignettes on Richard Olmsted's simple but effective set. The playing space slopes gently upward toward a painterly evocation of the Egyptian desert. Moses is born into a world steeped in the Pharoah's hostility. ``Seen any baby boys lately?'' one Israelite slave sarcastically asks another. Borne away on a blue fabric river and a lyrical violin melody, Moses becomes the chosen one. He was tapped not for leadership of his people, at first, but as the Egyptian princess' boy toy. That earns some insouciant, Egyptian-kitsch song lyrics: ``The daughter of the king has got a Hebrew thing.'' ``God's Donkey'' has clumsy patches and cliches -- notably a pipe-smoking Viennese analyst commenting on Moses' psychological development. Fisher's direction bogs down in transitions now and then. There are also some spine-shivering moments. One comes when God's commandment is swallowed up in a blackout. Past and present merge in a powerfully epigrammatic reference to the Palestinian question. ``I promise peace,'' God tells a dying Moses as they gaze out over the Promised Land. ``I promise war.'' Davidman plays Moses with an earnest, heartfelt sincerity. His face can crumple with great suffering, then brighten with hope. Miller adds a likable, protean presence, as an unflappable God or a mother in wrenching labor. Both performers sing with firm, sonorous voices. Hoffman is an ever-present force in the show, whether he's wandering the stage as a fiddler or underscoring dialogue with a softly chattering guitar. Either way, his music carries a crucial share of the load in ``God's Donkey.'' E-mail Steven Winn at swinn@sfchronicle.com. |
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GOD'S DONKEY: A play about Moses. By Aaron Davidman, Corey Fisher and Eric
Rhys Miller. Music by Daniel Hoffman. Directed by Corey Fisher. (Through
Nov. 19. 1 hour, 20 minutes. At A Traveling Jewish Theatre, 470 Florida St.,
San Francisco. Tickets: $22.50. Call (415) 399-1809.)
