In Embedded, written and directed by Tim Robbins, we learn that the media lies to the public and that the government controls the media. Gosh! I never knew that. We also learn that Tim Robbins is a better director than writer. The most interesting part of his show is the projections of dazzling old war films and splay of lights during the scene changes. The rest is simplistic Agit-prop polemic diatribe, mostly declaimed in a Brechtian manner, including masks for Bush's cabinet, but without Brecht's innovative theatrical tangents and delights.
Embedded is basically a boring show with very uneven acting, some of it truly awful, some of it quite good, as in a scene between an Iraqi doctor and a captured American woman, with loud music, shooting, and yelling occasionally to wake us up. Since it describes past events (the Iraq war) and prescribes nothing, and we don't at this time have a time machine to go back and fix anything that's already happened, I'm not sure to what end Robbins exposes us to his well-meaning harangue. If you want to preach beyond the choir, you have to draw us in, not shout things we, the left, the critics and condemners of inhumanity, already know.
Opened:
February 24, 2004
Ended:
June 6, 2004
Country:
USA
State:
New York
City:
New York
Company/Producers:
Public Theater (George C. Wolfe, art dir; Mara Manus, exec dir);
Theater Type:
off-Broadway
Theater:
Public Theater
Theater Address:
425 Lafayette Street
Genre:
Satire
Director:
Tim Robbins
Review:
Parental:
adult themes, violence
Cast:
Ben Cain, Brian T. Finney, V.J. Foster, Kaili Hollister, Riki Lindhome Jay R. Martinez, Kate Mulligan, Steven M. Porter, Brian Powell, Toni Torres, Lolly Ward, Andrew Wheeler
Technical:
Set: Richard Hoover; Costumes: Yasuko Takahara; Lighting: Adam H. Green; Sound: David Robbins; Masks: Erhard Stiefel.
Critic:
Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
March 2004
