Russians make me giggle

Yesterday's production of "The Hairdresser" was a brilliant study of Russian comedy. When I originally read the English translation I must admit that I failed to see the humor at all. It was about a hopelessly romantic hairdresser named Irina (I suppose one could also call her dim-witted, tragic, naive, ill-fated, and a slew of other adjectives describing this stereotypical victim of love) who's romance with a murder (Evgeni) she met via newspaper advertisement turns ugly when he attempts to kill her and run away with her money in the last few scenes of the play. There are other characters as well: the sweet fireman who falls in love with and attempts to woo Irina while Evgeni is still in prison, the second hairdresser at the salon who looks jealously on as men swoon over Irina, Alexsei Nikolaevich, a married judge who likes to hit on Irina as she snips away at his balding scalp, and Irina's first husband who is a psychopathic artist (he was quite fond of lounging on a couch with his head half-way severed, chasing his wife around with an ax, and peeing on her just for kicks! Sexy, no? Where does she find these freaks???)

Ok, having re-read my description, I guess it does sound comical, but my innitial conclusion was more akin to "...why do Russian plays have to be so bizarre? This is totally unreal." And I think that the reason the production worked so well was that it was presented as unreal. Everything was in 2-D, both the set and the actors. How, you ask? Well, the brilliant set designer used cardboard cutouts to represent everything in the salon from the seats to the cuctucus to the products lining the 2-D shelves. Other scenes such as the disco and Irina's apartment were represented in the same manner.

The characters themselves behaved like paper puppets. They never turned their backs to the audience and their movements were jerky and robotic. When they walked, they their entire bodies moved from side to side though each character had his or her own unique gait. For example, the villanous Evgeni was sort of hunched over and his footsteps were excessively heavy while the fireman walked upright with smaller more awkward footsteps. The makeup was also perfect for each charcter. The second hairdresser wore bright red lipstick and dark eye make-up in a sad attempt to gain male suiters, the darkness around Evgeni's eyes was emphasized giving him a real sketchy appearance, and Irina's bright green eyes were highlighted to make them look even bigger and more innocent.

Another aspect of the play which made it less realistic was that Irina was narrating everything as it happened in the play. We've seen one other narrated play like this--The Black Monk--and this technique is very effective because it continually brings the audience member into the realization that they are sitting in a theater watching a play. It is very much removed from real life.

So I've described the characters, the set, and the particular style of the play but what exactly was so dang funny? The actor's faces had a lot to do with it. One of the comments they made during the Q&A at the end of the production was that showing emotion while being somewhat limited in their movements because they were paper dolls was actually easier--it forced them to relinquish any extraneous emotions and actions. Their emotions were less complex in that they were so easily read and understood. When the second hairdresser was jealous, she scrunched up her face, frowned, and looked away. When Irina talked about Evgeni her eyes were wide and bright and she smiled dreamily. Movement in 2-D is also pretty halarious, espececially dancing! When the fireman took Irina to the disco, they stoood together side-by-side and rocked to the music, the epiptomy of awkward dancing. I laughed so loud! As did the Russians in the audience.

Well, this post is getting long so even though I could go on and on about this play, I'm gonna end here. The Hairdresser has officially made it onto my list of fantastic performances. And you know what else? You couldn't distinquish the Americans from the Russians at that performance because we all laugh in the same language. :)