DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING? // A THEATRE REVIEW OF "THE IRON HEEL"
To make a theatrical evening out of a Jack London novel takes all sorts of bravery. For starters, his writing can be dense. It’s sometimes hard to image it translated to another medium. And his work is already beloved, so how to adapt it? Well, Untitled Theatre Company #61 have never backed down from what has seemed like an uphill battle before, and so they continue to charge ahead here, with splendid results. THE IRON HEEL, written in 1908 and considered by many to be “the earliest of the modern Dystopian,” imagines (or predicts) an alternate future, a future where the working class triumph. It correctly predicted several things to come, such as the rise of the socialist party and the shrinking of the middle class. Edward Einhorn’s adaption here stages the events in a nontraditional way, and in nontraditional venues (my evening was presented in The Great Room at South Oxford Place in Brooklyn). The evening begins as the cast strum along to acoustic guitars, singing songs of the working man, of fighting for your rights. Songbooks are passed out so that the audience may sing along (and in my evening, many did). And away we go to the 27th century.
Part musical, part play, and part Brecht-ian fantasia, THE IRON HEEL succeed on almost all levels because of its earnest and un-ironic nature. The straight forward storytelling draws you in, a refreshing change from today’s usual offerings of wink-wink irony. A unique thing about THE IRON HEEL novel was that it was rare for a male writer to have a female protagonist. And so Einhorn continues that with Yvonne Roen being our voice in. She functions as the narrator, a historian who (along with a group of actors) re-enact the events of America's working and middle class battled against those with an "iron heel" some hundreds of years ago. The purposely loose-knitted plot revolves around the Everhard Manuscript, detailing the events of the socialist hero, Ernest Everhard (played by Charles J. Ouda), and his wife Avis, played by Victoria Rulle. The cast acts out the story, breaking character often and questioning what certain things mean and if it's actually what they themselves fully believe. It's a play full of ideas, both powerful, humorous, and adventurous.
Yvette Roen is great as our window into the world of their past, of the world of the working man's struggles. As is the rest of the cast/musicians, notably a lively Trav SD, a commanding Victoria Rulle, a powerful Charles J. Ouda, and an ensemble that is always present and alluring. It's a thought provoking night of theatre, one that I hope Einhorn and his merry group of travelers will bring back from time to time.
GRADE: B+
Based on the novel by Jack London Adapted and Directed by Edward Einhorn Starring Craig Anderson, Kevin Argus, Charles Ouda, Yvonne Roen, Victoria Rulle and Trav SD. Now closed but most recently played at: South Oxford Space, 138 South Oxford Street, Brooklyn and various locations
is an actor, writer, and a playwright. His plays Happily After Tonight, Within Our Walls, Bohemian Valentine and Paper Airplanes have been produced in NY and beyond. He is currently workshopping his new play Fairground Attraction as part of Athena Theatre's 2016 Playwrighting Group. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.