The Prague Fringe Festival: Day 5 (May 26)

Decaffeinated Tragedy "Small intimacies" is something that writer/performer Kurt Hartwig's friend Jennifer Bonner specialized in as an artist, and in his lone-actor memory play, Decaffeinated Tragedy, Mr. Hartwig has created a small and intimate piece of theater to review his relationship with Ms. Bonner, who died far too young of heart failure. From a steamer trunk, Mr. Hartwig not only produces examples of the artist's small intimacies (a charming print of a coffee cup and saucer also serves as the play's poster art), but also a coffee cart's worth of cups, pots, tins, spoons and hot plate, with which he will make coffee for his audience. What follows is a stream of anecdotes, often prompted by some of Ms. Bonner's last diary entries, as well as some psychological and philosophical musings of Mr, Hartwig, mainly inspired by the search for a good cup of java. Mr. Hartwig has a very casual charm, to the point where his obviously highly structured piece seems, in essence, conversational (though the audience I was in was rather subdued). Personally, I've never been to a show where I have so felt the desire to interact (if you will) with a performer. Part of this springs from the coffeeshop atmosphere that Mr. Hartwig easily creates (he also serves a delicious dollop of homemade cheesecake with the freshly brewed coffee), as well as his gregarious manner. But part of it is also a desire to stop him for some clarifications or elaborations. There are great moments of profundity in Decaffeinated Tragedy, and yet at times they seem to simply muddy matters - to block, rather than reveal, as if Mr. Hartwig were filtering the very memories that his show purports to examine. With admirable honesty he says he "failed" his friend, and although we cannot know to what extent he feels this, it's telling that he "carries" her with him in a large trunk - a "burden," furthermore, that gives the impression of not being fully unpacked, regardless of how much Mr. Hartwig takes out of it. Where was Mr. Hartwig when he learned of his friend's death? When was his last visit with her? Were there coffee vigils in the hospital corridors with machine-made brews in Styrofoam cups, or midnight gatherings of family and friends in the coffeeshop? Did he attend her funeral? There are some strange omissions. The piece is not helped by being staged in the kavárna at Divadlo na prádle, but then, what show ever is? Wallace Shawn would stage his play The Fever in hotel suites and living rooms, and I could easily see Mr. Hartwig bringing Decaffeinated Tragedy to a proper café or even to someone's kitchen for a performance. Perhaps this last venue would be the most ideal, as it might (with an active audience) allow this promising new piece to discover deeper layers of intimacy. Divadlo na prádle  

Cactus "Tough house," a fellow Australian shouted to performer Jonno Katz from the audience, and indeed it was. Starting off, the audience seemed primed to enjoy Katz's absurdist act, and did for the first half-hour. Then it all went pear-shaped and quiet. The house suddenly withdrew their interest, leaving poor Katz desperately flailing onstage. He managed toward the end to win most everyone back, but the evening still seemed effortful. There are many reasons for this, first among them being that Katz arrived in Prague and quickly fell ill with a 104-degree temperature, which forced him to cancel a show. Physically, he's obviously rallied, but his energy has undoubtedly been sapped. Still, a trouper to the end, he retook the stage as soon as he could, but, as proved last night, with mixed results. Highly praised at other Fringe festivals, Katz's famously unbridled imagination was working overtime at the top of the show before the crickets set in 30 minutes later. In his hometown of Melbourne, he's been dubbed a genius. Here, there were very fleeting glimpses of something like genius. "A curate's egg," an exhausted friend said afterward. "Good in part." We can only hope Katz comes back in the future under better circumstances. Divadlo Inspirace  

Top 5 Fringe picks: 1. In a Thousand Pieces 2. The Crying Cherry 3. Backward Glance 4. Canarsie Suite 5. Crossed Wires  

Steffen Silvis can be reached at
ssilvis@praguepost.com