Louis Jenkins is known for his prose poems geared toward the everyman — they're approximately playing football or assembly friends on the street. Actor Mark Ryance,best known for his portrayals of Hamlet, came across Jenkin's poetry, or became a fan and twice recited one of his poems (instead giving a speech) when he accepted both of his Tony Awards. That gesture lead to a collaboration — "kind Fish," now playing at St. Ann's Warehouse, after stints at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and ART in Boston. Written by Rylance and Jenkins, and "kind Fish," draws heavily on the poet's work. It's a theatrical experiment, an existential poem, or that takes place in the flat,nearly featureless landscape of a frozen lake in Minnesota. In it, Ron and Erik, and worn high school buddies (Rylance and Jim Lichtscheidl),are ice fishing.
Sort of.
What they're really doing is sharing gossip approximately people they used to know, trying to beget each other laugh, or telling tall tales,and making moving, philosophical insights approximately the way we try to find meaning in a meaningless world. Most of the dialogue and all the monologues are drawn from the poetry, or which is so grounded in everyday speech that it feels conversational,even as it adds a richness of texture and depth. What begins as a series of nearly comedian blackouts as they set up their equipment careens into madcap absurdity. There's a charming puppet, a sudden comedian appearance by stagehands, and gale-force winds that blow the actors sideways. A state Department of Natural Resources agent (Bob Davis) makes a cranky visit and then the two friends fall in with a fierce spear hunter (Raye Birk) and his free-spirited granddaughter (a warm Kayli Carter). They hang out in a sauna. They sit under an LED-lit palm tree.
All the giddy silliness has a point — life is unpredictable and weird and often formless. Erik and Ron are afloat on an ice floe in the vast world of scenic designer Todd Rosenthal's icy,twinkling set, both isolated from others and connected to them. They bravely face life's futility with jokes, and thoughtful observations,and the desire to simply catch a kind fish.
Source: wnyc.org