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By Jim Cavener
CITIZEN-TIMES CORRESPONDENT
published: August 5, 2005 6:00 am
ASHEVILLE - A one-person show is not an easy
thing to do. Everything depends on the material and the interpretation
and presentation. There's no glitz and dazzle to cover for a
failed attempt.
And yet, the Asheville area has seen a lot
of one-person shows in recent years. The latest comes from storyteller
David Novak, who performs his piece "Smoke From the Everglades''
as part of the N.C. Stage Company's Catalyst series.
It's a captivating coming-of-age story; mindful
material, with a good deal of depth, and the fine talents of
a super storyteller.
Novak was raised in Ft. Lauderdale and fondly
remembers every nuance of his neighborhood and its denizens.
He brings together all those strains into a coherent story that
captures our imagination and leaves us most familiar with that
area.
A sweet touch was the segue from Novak's opening
and welcoming comments, seemingly spontaneous and probably tailored
to the differing audience at each performance. Then, somehow,
the technical assistant discerns that it is time for the lights
to dim and, smoothly, but suddenly, we are in the midst of the
well-honed tale of a master story teller.
While most of this narrative focuses on Novak's
young life as a child, then an adolescent, it is not all sweetness
and light. This show cannot be dismissed as a child's chronicle,
all fun and games. There are somber moments, and scary ones,
as well. The graphic description of an early childhood hurricane
on this idyllic Lauderdale neighborhood is riveting in its threatening
elements. We pull for the boy as he's battered about the backyards
near his home.
The family stresses of his closest neighborhood
and school friend are more than a little disturbing, even for
a reviewer trying to remain detached to fully appreciate the
masterful references to classical myth and literary gems. Novak's
writing reflects more than superficial exposure to the classics
and his performance encompasses various forms of articulation.
Caught between the Atlantic Ocean and the
inland waters of the Everglades, Novak brings the narrative to
a head with dramatic renderings of memories of the both destructive
and regenerative uncontrolled fires raging through the sawgrass
of the inland swamps, known as the Everglades.
This guy knows his history, for starters,
and he shares it in wonderful verbal imagery, communicating the
vision of the smoke rising from the distant flames, spelling
both horror and hope, through which we better know and love the
neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale's 52nd Court.
Jim Cavener writes on theater for the Citizen-Times.
E-mail at: JimCavener@aya.Yale.edu
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