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The Vomit Talk of Ghosts
By Jenny Sandman
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The fucking was good…but he wouldn't take his hand out of me. I was stuck on his wrist like a puppet. He made me do little finger dances and bad magic tricks. Finger language of the dead he called it. The vomit talk of ghosts. ---Amber
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Amber and Chloe are two "typical" teenagers, except that Amber has a dead lover. The Deadman, as she calls him, visits her regularly. Their very sexual relationship has allowed Amber to become a mouthpiece of sorts for the Deadman. Chloe and her parents know about him and his visits. Amber's mother even stages séances of sorts which are intended to lure the Deadman back. In a way both the mother and Chloe are jealous for even though Amber's boyfriend is dead, he's sexy, and at least Amber's in love.
When the afterlife begins calling the Deadman back, Amber feels increasingly out of place in her human world. Soon she decides she wants to follow him.
Amber and Chloe are a weird dichotomy. In contrast to their shrieking, giggling and doll-playing there's very adult sex talk and Amber's clear definition of her sexual needs. The "big scary adult stuff" is, however, just that. Despite Amber's experience, the adult world to her still equals her parents and her teachers. Her favorite analogy for the Deadman is that of the bad math teacher. "He'll teach you his bad math" she giggles to Chloe. For all her posturing and giggling, Amber feels that her otherworldly experiences have separated her out from the rest of humanity. Her detachment lends itself to extremes, like cutting herself and desecrating her dolls. "Sex and death! Sex and death! Does everything have to be skulls and vaginas every minute of the day?" yells her mother.
Playwright Kevin Oakes has a very interesting way with languag. He's something of a satanic Mac Wellman. His dialogue is lyrical but disturbing, and in places downright eerie. His play makse another fine showing for the Flea's Bats.
Katy Downing as Amber is the linchpin of the show, though Meghan Carroll's Chloe is just as compelling. Eric Dean Scott is an appropriately leaden Deadman.
Like the subject matter, the production is strangely disembodied from its human element. It's obvious that Jay Scheib has directed in Germany and Austria. The Vomit Talk of Ghosts has a stark Eastern European modernity to its staging. Scheib, who favors multimedia and nudity in his productions, has plenty of both here. Amber's bedroom is linked to a closed-circuit television, and a video technician follows her throughout the play. When the bedroom door is shut and the curtains are drawn, the television is the only way into her world. The multimedia and the sharp, unflattering lighting only highlight Amber's detachment.
The set is creepy and blank, in that way that dark-wood paneled windowless basements from the 1970s are creepy. The walls and ceiling are padded and black, with only a folding table and the TV sets for accoutrements. The fiercely pink shag carpeting doesn't improve the room's mood. Amber's bedroom is small and cramped, littered with discarded clothing and toys. Horror movie music--high, spacey and monotonous--is counterbalanced with a sappy, soap-opery romantic theme that accompanies Amber's meetings with the Deadman. Naturally, there is plenty of screaming, as well.
This is not a play for the faint of heart. The overt sexuality is unsettling, especially in concert with the story's supernatural element. The production style is equally disquieting, perhaps more so to those who favor a traditional staging approach. And in the end the story simply loops around on itself, providing no easy answers or resolutions. But it's certainly thought-provoking, and features some outstanding young talent. The Vomit Talk of Ghosts is definitely unlike anything else out there.
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THE VOMIT TALK OF GHOSTS Written by Kevin Oakes Directed by Jay Scheib With Meghan Carroll, Katy Downing, Charles Kornegay, Kevin T. Moore, Eric Dean Scott, and Sayra Player Lighting Design by Benjamin C. Tevelow Set and Costume Design by Oana Botez-Ban Sound and Video Design by Leah Gelpe Running time: Two hours and fifteen minutes with one ten-minute intermission The Flea Theatre, 41 White Street; 212-226-2407 June 23rd through July 17th; Wednesday through Saturday at 9 pm. All tickets $15 Reviewed by Jenny Sandman based on July 8th performance |
Retold by Tina Packer of Shakespeare & Co.
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