No Bull With Raging Robert.

"Fowl Play" at La MAMA is another tale by the Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre. The theater groups "Havel" also played here at the Ellen Stewart Theatre last season. The theater group is reminiscent of the theater company Bread and Puppet, in that it brings farce and the absurd to the political forefront. Like Bread and puppet too, this company has many subplots within its stories.

In Fowl Play: Conference of the Birds we get a vast group of birds who are asked to fly to the 7 steps of knowledge and into the valley of perfection. The birds are asked to blindly go there without questioning why. In doing so we the audience see the symmetry of what has occurred throughout time... that the leaders know better than "we the people".

Whereas in "Havel" we get one man's quest for freedom, here, the birds, many with different ideas and personalities question things, but yet, capitulate to the leader, only to be disappointed in the end. In Peter Sis's book (project illustrations} the actors give us many movements in dance and song. The direction for the most part uses the vast stage at the Stewart well and the costumes are well done and creative (Michelle Beshaw}.

From its beginning "Fowl" brings a different kind of show; actors greet us in the lobby before the show segueing this farcical show into the one hour thirty minutes of the absurd. The lighting ((Daisy Long), the set design (Tom Lee and Theresa Linnihan) and the choreography by (Martha Tornay) give us a East Village, raw feel to it; the genre of "Fowl Play" matches the personality of the Stewart. The music too gives off the East Village vibe; both folk and gothic resonate throughout the performance.

Like the companies "Havel", this musical makes you think about people from all walks of life around the world. The hope that leadership has our back and our interests in mind. Like the birds, people tend to get manipulated into ideas, thought patterns; we are told what to believe. In the vast personalities of the birds, from the intellectual Owl, to the vain Peacock, the birds hope for a better life under the leadership of a cunning bird. The author for the most part brings forth what has been debatable since the beginning of time, the hot topic of politics, what is the best solution for the masses.

On its face "Fowl Play" is an admirable plot, however, the performance at the forty-five mark tends to meander a little. Where the audience was engaged at first, it became less so around the half way mark having some audience members heading for the exit. Even though the show ended strongly, the middle of the show had a bad lull to it. The story seemed to be searching for a direction as to where it wanted to go and it got away from the audience at this point leaving the shifting in their chairs.

While many of the songs were creative, resonating and even on the intellectual side leaving a raw feel to the show, many of the actors were not good singers; this led to an off-kilter feel to the performance. Where the dancing blended well and gave great flow to the plot, the singing made it feel second rate. Unlike "Havel" which was first rate from start to finish, "Fowl Play" had a few kinks in it to be called a warm, engaging show. Although it was not on par with the companies past show, this one had many great actors in it and has the possibility of rising to the "Havel" level with a few tweaks too it.