New Mexico Mercury

Albuquerque had more than 20 plays opening in April, appealing to almost every conceivable taste, from children's stories and musical comedies to cutting-edge contemporary drama.

Among the latter was “Humble Boy,” a strange and generally confounding British family drama staged by the Fusion—at the Cell, the KimMo and the Lensic in Santa Fe through May 11.

Expertly directed and skillfully acted by a highly professional ensemble cast, the play describes the homecoming of a Cambridge University professor after the death of his father.

With asides discussing bee raising, horticulture, chaos theory, black holes, the big bang, superstring theory, the unified field theory and other abstruse subjects, as well as an effort to retell Shakespeare's “Hamlet,” it is never very clear where the play is going or why it is going there. The cosmic concepts are clearly metaphors for the smaller crises on stage, but as the astrophysicist professor says, “we know the rules for the big and small things, but they don't agree.” Science's problem thus becomes an apt metaphor for the difficulty of theater.

Perhaps the most revealing line in the play is “You can't apply logic to everything,” although author Charlotte Jones makes a valiant effort. 

This kind of highly literate, discursive play is more popular in England than in the U.S., and its British reception was more enthusiastic than the New York reviews.

There is some excellent dialog, as well as engaging humor.  When bees drop dead, it is said that “the sun cried bees…” the professor carps, “Bumble bees don’t obey the laws of physics—they shouldn't be able to fly.” On his failure to achieve a scientific breakthrough like Newton, he snaps, “Newton didn't have my mother.” (For tickets and information go to fusionnm.org or call 766-9412.)

That such a play could be staged at all in Albuquerque, and that opening night drew a sell-out crowd speaks volumes about the state of local theater. With at least 49 performing groups and 16 theatrical venues (including Edgewood and Sandia Park), the Albuquerque area has a more active theatrical scene that any other city of its size, according to a survey conducted by the Albuquerque Theatre Guild. (Despite its reputation as a cultural capital, Santa Fe has only about 10 theatrical groups.)

With 46 members, (up from 19 six years ago) the guild publishes a semiannual brochure (the most complete listing of local performances and companies), produces a web site and stages a variety of special events. It also conducts educational and training sessions for writers and actors.

And it does it all on an annual budget of only about $30,000, with the typical member paying dues of $125.

The really odd thing about the local theater scene is a contradiction: Despite having a plethora of companies and performances, it has no major regional theater company—exactly the opposite of other cities such as Denver and Minneapolis.

Part of the answer seems to lie in the paucity of public money for cultural organizations. Part also is the lack of official encouragement. It is notable, for example, that Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry's administration made no attempt to rescue the New Mexico Symphony when, despite the extensive sacrifices of its musicians, it was forced to close up shop.

Even the media doesn’t seem to be helping much. First the Albuquerque Tribune disappeared entirely, then recently the Albuquerque Journal sharply reduced its coverage of plays and books, with the Weekly Alibi following suit. ABQ Arts only publishes monthly and thus can’t print reviews. And no substantial local web site has yet filled the cultural vacuum. (A new site that carries this column, New Mexico Mercury, in part run by poet V. B. Price, is taking a stab at filling the vacuum in not only cultural affairs but news reporting and commentary.)

In fact, the best outlet for Albuquerque theatrical reviews is a New York outfit, Talkin' Broadway (which I have agreed to join as a critic). It covers not only New York happenings but also theater in 20 regional cities, including Albuquerque.

Linda Lopez McAlister, who handles “buzz,” i.e. communications, for the guild, paints a picture of a vibrant local theater scene that has defied recession, competition from film production, and cutbacks in state budgets and foundation grants.

For the numerous and growing small companies to coalesce into an important regional theater, she argues that Santa Fe and Albuquerque are going to have to come together, as they already are in some tentative ways, with a group like the Fusion performing in both cities. “The numbers [of theatergoers] are here and the cachet is there,” she explains.

The other gaping hole in the local theater scene is productions by local playwrights. “Not much makes it onto the stage,” she says. “It's not that there aren't local playwrights but that they aren't getting produced.”

Although there are a few significant exceptions, she said in general the small companies “can't afford to put on plays that no one's ever heard of. They can't be too adventurous or they don't make enough money to cover their expenses.”

As a handful of rather daring local productions this year suggest, however, even that may be beginning to change, at least a bit.

McAlister says she is seeing the kind of growth in the theater scene that she really can't account for. “I don't remember when I've had so many messages on opening night saying we're sold out, we're sold out, we're sold out,” she says. “I don't know what's going on but people are going to the theater. All over the place they're selling out. I think things are looking up.” I hope so.