Not that I had any doubt that David Greenspan, stalwart performer/writer/creator wouldn’t handle the material as expertly as he did. Still, understanding, interpreting then speaking as well as acting out text by Gertrude Stein is not an easy task. Greenspan’s Composition…Master-Pieces…Identity (running until 6/27 down at The Connelly Theater (220 East 4th Street, Manhattan) was pretty much masterful-as I say I expected it to be-but I also understood that it was no easy task when it comes to Stein’s ruminations on these three subjects.
I am of the mind that Gertrude Stein was a seminal voice, but I do not always agree with her notions on art (though I did plenty on what Greenspan was speaking about) nor do I always fall into line with her use of language. She is very precise in her writings of course, as was Greenspan in his delivery, in fact, every single time I have seen the man perform, in his own work or others, he has kept me rapt with his delivery, his simple well executed approach and his overall ‘likeability.’ There is something about Greenspan that makes even his most dangerous moments (and things got a little loud and intense when he stood to perform the last piece “Identity A Poemâ€) ones you are destined to just love, chew-over and cheer for. The thing for me is that Stein sometimes sounds like she is simply grooving on how smart she knows she is, the repetitive phrases, the thrown-off asides all her nods to how smart-alecky she can be.
Still, there are heady concepts here and the stuff is top notch…delivered by nobody better for the task than David Greenspan.
Composition…Master-Pieces…Identity is part of the TMT Stein Spring Lab: “When This You See remember Me†series and you can find more info about it all at http://www.targetmargin.org/…and I urge you to do so.
