Is this the end? A deep and troublesome question that a great many found themselves asking for many, many unending months as a global pandemic forced all signs of life as we know it to cease. In a thrilling and curiously strange, wondrously curious, and uniquely— well, Happenstance— piece of theatre, which pre-dates the global Covid-19 pandemic, BrouHaHa comes to the stage foreshadowing an existential apocalypse of sorts. A Happenstance Theater collaborative production, featuring Mark Jaster, Sabrina Mandell, Gwen Grastorf, Sarah Olmsted Thomas, and Alex Vernon, BrouHaHa is an intriguing 75 minutes of theatrical folly, filled with much physical movement, engagement, and activity, offering everyone a little something to giggle at, contemplate, and marvel over.
As ever, Sabrina Mandell’s costumes are ephemerally timeless. They harken back to a time that is long past, bordering on forgotten, and yet somehow strangely familiar, as if these sartorial selections have always been a part of our collective conscious. Intentionally drab in coloration, these whites and browns and beiges reflect well the intention of the weary, bedraggled traveler, the ‘everyman’ at the end of his tether marching slowly forward into oblivions unknown. The production itself relies heavily on the physicality of the performers. (A prop or two, a lighting cue here and there, but mostly the magic happens across the bodies of the quintet of quintessential mime-workers and the astonishing mouth-loaded sound effects they produce throughout the entirety of the performance.)
It’s difficult to describe this linearly-disjointed non-narrative experience, but the lack of cohesive timeline does not hinder the production in any way, in fact, it’s all too relatable given how little the demarcation of time has become for so many of us thanks to the instability and uncertainty of real life in ‘Covid-Times.’ While BrouHaHa did exist years before Covid-19 swept the world, there are so many intricate, moving parts of it that feel as if they are speaking as a direct result of experiencing this collectively conscious event that it’s both harrowing and awe-inspiring. Sarah Olmsted Thomas’ character, Pandora, even says at one point “This is a confusing time. This is a safe place.” Those words resonated so profoundly across the audience, bringing both hope and wonder with them to all in attendance.
The performance is not without its hilarities, like poor Rose (Sabrina Mandell) who possesses the naiveté and genuine innocence of some ethereal childlike faerie, flittering about with this inconceivable sense of lighthearted glee. Mandell embodies this hopeful joy, reminding us all that there is hope to be had, even in the immutable face of darkness and uncertainty. Mandell, whose character spends a great deal of time giggling and just trying to speak her piece, unflagging in the face of constantly being told to wait or ‘not now’, brings a glowing levity to both the performance and the return of live, in-person, on-stage theatre. Keep a special eye out for when she starts ‘handing out drinks’ to the audience; it’s a real treat.
Gwen Grastorf and Sarah Olmsted Thomas, who are often paired opposite one another in many a Happenstance Theatre production, find themselves as stand-alone characters in this performance, with Grastorf playing the dour and rigid Edith and Thomas embracing the more curious, albeit macabre, Pandora. There are a great many moments where both shine with radiance, in their respective down-trodden manners, and give the audience insights to some of the ‘internal mechanisms’ of the end of the world as we know it.
Master of the mouth-made SFX, Alex Vernon is quite the character when it comes to producing all myriad of sounds, noises, etc., straight from his very own mouth! When he takes to pantomiming his way through serving up drinks in the Apocalypse Café & Bar scene (which is a delightful way to involve the audience whilst maintaining safe, social-distance practices) Vernon has the audience chuckling all through the sketch with his audible antics. (Do volunteer to receive one of Roland’s drinks, they’re divine!) Vernon’s physicality, particularly when it comes to smaller gesticulations, is second only to the master of mime himself, Mark Jaster, in this production and you’ll delight in watching all the ways the pair of them succeed in making movements into an entire performative element all their own.
Jaster, as previously mentioned, is the guru, master, and sensei of all things movement and mime-related. There is an entire sketch at the beginning of the performance where his character, Ralph, is knocked unconscious and Vernon and Thomas spend quite a bit of time trying to get his body back upright. The sheer core-strength and overall physical capability to flop haplessly about like a ragdoll uncontrolled, levitating and lifting limbs as if they were controlled by someone or something else is both astonishing and admirable (and even a little envy-inducing!) Jaster’s character of Ralph has some of the most expressive facial animations that make him wildly entertaining to observe.
The company as a whole move beautifully together throughout various scenes. Whether it’s the frenetic chaos of ‘line-hopping’ when it comes to ‘not wishing to be first’ at the head of some specified line or the wondrous coordination involved in the line-hat-swap, which rapidly evolves into the circular-hat-toss game. This quintet of performers understands the nuances of ensemble work, whole-heartedly embracing movement as their primary principle when it comes to performance.
As mentioned in the performance, “These are confusing Times. This is a safe place.” A more accurate statement could not be made when it comes to BrouHaHa. It will absolutely delight audiences both intimately familiar with Happenstance Theatre’s work as well as those who have, perhaps by happenstance, stumbled into this performance. Limited engagement run through November 7, 2021 at Theatre Project in Baltimore; this one is not to be missed!
Running Time: Approximately 75 minutes with no intermission
BrouHaHa plays through November 7, 2021 with Happenstance Theater at Baltimore Theatre Project— 45 W. Preston Street in Baltimore, MD. For tickets call the box office at (410) 752-8558 or purchase them online.
