Theater at Brown: Erratics, Scenes from Thomas Cole's "The Course of Empire"

In keeping with Sock & Buskin's season of unconventional theater, the latest production at Stuart Theater, Erratics, does not disappoint in the slightest. The production, inspired by Thomas Cole's five part series of paintings titled "The Course of Empire," was created and directed by Obie Award Winner Dan Hurlin. The show includes text by former Playwriting Professor Erik Ehn and music by Music Professor Eric Nathan and cast member Graham Straus '19. The production begins with a blank canvas and a piano, as the audience walks into the theater to take their seats. When the house lights go down, the piano explodes into bright music as the performance begins.The performance itself? Well, it's not what one would call a "linear" narrative. Erratics basically consists of little vignettes created by actors, Ehn's text, projections of Cole's paintings, and music. Oh, and puppets - the most lifelike puppets you've ever seen, controlled by members of the incredibly talented cast. Sometimes human performers onstage mirror the movements of the puppets, but not always. Sometimes a camera onstage zooms in and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes a deer and a dog appear on the stage; other times, they don't.I haven't yet divulged any plot points of the vignettes themselves, and I will not do so simply because I don't believe the plot of Erratics is the most important point of the show. In fact, trying to discern and parse out the vignettes in terms of "what it all means" takes away from the overall experience. I will say that some of vignettes are funny, some aren't at all, and some are funny until they are not. All of the vignettes are incredibly well-executed and thought provoking, and highlight the precision and skill of the fantastic cast, which features Shade Au '19, John Beck '18, Ebube Chuba '19, Joshua Danielson '20, Julia Fein '18, David Kleinman '20, Zoe Koss '20, Nathan Sorscher '19, Graham Straus '19, and Mary Martha Wiggers '18.In his program notes, creator and director Dan Hurlin notes that "In Cole's day, erratics were thought to be proof of Noah's flood, introducing a note of hope for redemption and asserting the cyclical nature of civilizations. In our day, I wonder where we are in that cycle. I don't have a hopeful feeling." Erratics may be a recreation of a sort of flood - a flood of ideas and images, a manifestation of both the history and the future of civilizations.Erratics is like a Jackson Pollock painting exploded onto stage. It may not be easy to "understand," but it surely is art. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Erratics is performing at Stuart Theater March 8-11 and runs approximately 1 hour without intermission. Tickets: $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, $7 for students.