As this country delves further into dysfunctional government, shootings (or at least their publicity) rise, relations with another nations and their people wane, and our citizens overall feel an inability to create any change, thought experiments on the opposite seem like healthy fare. MadLab’s newest production Jim Azelvandre’s The Air Loom offers a generally well-crafted work that allows the audience a visually exquisite opportunity to ponder extreme ways in which one man can change the world while simultaneously question reality.
The play is loosely based on a true story about a man named James Tilly Matthews. In the show, the audience first meets Tilly as he undergoes a session with a psychiatrist, Dr. H. She struggles to determine if he can stand trial as a sane man after shooting the nation’s prime minister. Through their sessions, we hear and see Tilly’s story. He encounters a gang who attempts to lure him into their plan to begin a full-scale, world war. They show him their scientific weapon, the titular object, which utilizes pneumatic chemistry to strongly influence other individuals’ minds. With the air loom, they can perpetuate feelings of fear, resentment, and anger in the brains of world leaders. Tilly then swears to battle this hodge-podge gang and fight for world peace.
Julia Ferreri portrays Dr. H, the psychiatrist devoted to helping Tilly. Ferreri makes honest and heart-felt choices as the Doctor, who tries so desperately to make sense of the chaos of the situation. Travis Horseman takes the heady part of Tilly and makes it look effortless. He strikes a fine balance between each of the countless facets of the character. Stephen Woosley portrays Bill the King, the leader of the gang, with a nice nonchalant take on playful insanity, while Courtney Deuser plays an excellent The Gloved Woman, an orgasmically driven, yet undersexed sort of Bellatrix Lestrange. Overall, the cast collectively produces a powerful energy onstage.
Jim Azelvandre weaves a wonderful story, both as a writer and a director. The first act takes the audience on an incredibly captivating ride, ostensibly consuming every iota of their attention (which a lot of entertainment does not actually do). The second act starts off slightly slower, but quickly picks up, though at times seems redundant and by proxy a little long. Then the swift left turn of an ending that no one expects happens and—poof—MadLab successfully blew the audience away again. In truth, the ending feels a bit rushed and forced, making it slightly disappointing, but the premise, and remainder of the script, design, and acting allow that to work.
Brendan Michna’s set feels like a perfect blend between war-torn dystopia, futuristic order, steampunk fantasy, and haunted house. His sensitive lighting aids to this feel. Peter Graybeal inserts subtle sounds throughout the performance that creates an uneasy and speculative ambiance. Debra Dyer’s costumes match the set’s aesthetic tone, completing the visually masterful story.
Given its opening weekend, The Air Loom competes with a lot going on in the city. Please, find a night to attend this play. It envelopes the audience into a world where sanity and rationale flirt as twins, a thought I feel all must be reminded of from time to time.
The Air Loom plays until November 9, at MadLab, 277 N. Third Street. Fri-Sat. at 8 pm. Tickets $15.
More information can be found online at Madlab.net or at 614-221-5418.