Vision Disturbance
James Harrison Monaco
September 15, 2010: As a friend, I could confidently recommend any writer, director, or actor to get a ticket to the NYC Players production of Christina Manciotti's Vision Disturbance. Its formal elements—the sentences, the acting by Jay Smith and Linda Mancini, the design, the rhythm, the blocking and spacing—are virtuosic. At its opening, a reticent eye doctor stands in the darkness and shines a white flashlight around the periphery of a Greek woman's eyes. He moves the light in a circle, which throws a haunting, ten foot shadow of her head on the wall behind them. The shadow orbits the two of them as he circles the light and they share the dry, investigative banter of doctor and patient. Their voices are near monotone and the text is choppy. Within the first three seconds the audience was silent and still, and our mouths were all slightly open. I don't think mine closed until the play was over. This was because for two hours every choice—by the writer, by director Richard Maxwell, by the actors and designers—was as sharp, small, and meticulously weird as that opening moment. Also they were all based in character. Any theatre artist could learn or steal a good deal from this ensemble that clearly knows its chops.
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