Tacoma Weekly - Because Community Matters

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Thu Dec 14 2006

ReMatch made in heaven

by Todd Barker Johnson Published December 14th, 2006 - Go Back

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The old song is true theres no place like home for the holidays. For everyone who understands that just a little too well, Callous Physical Theatre presents Grudge Match: ReMatch. This artistic performance is a frank exploration of the tensions and conflicts that surround the real life version of the nostalgic scene that families often try to create at Christmastime. Grudge Match: ReMatch Directors Josephine A. Zmolek and Paul Zmolek own and run Barefoot Studios, the associated dance school that Callous grew from and shares facilities with. Grudge Match: ReMatch is the sequel to Callous 2005 holiday production Grudge Match, and arose due to the original shows popularity. Paul Zmolek described Grudge Match: ReMatch as the first sequel we did intentionally. The performers deliver the show from a slightly raised dance floor with mirrors along one wall, only a few feet from the audience. This scant separation from the audience makes the performers and their actions seem far more real and present than at more conventional theaters. The Zmoleks described Grudge Match: ReMatch as our antidote to the Nutcracker, which appreciates what we actually go through with family rather than surrounding it with fantasy. In fact, the text and choreography were written by both the directors and the performers, inspired by the performers personal journals. Paul Zmolek noted that Grudge Match: ReMatch is not directly narrative. Instead, the show is an anthology of monologues and abstract dances that is seamlessly interrelated despite the lack of defined characters or a unifying plotline. He added that the performance is set around the dinner table at your parents home during Christmas and could take place anytime between 1950 and this holiday season. Instead of settling on a specific timeframe, it takes place within the collective unconsciousness of everyone who meets with family during the holidays. Cast member Stephanie Kriege, who also teaches at Barefoot Studios, noted that she and fellow Callous founding member Katie Stricker both performed in the original production of Grudge Match last year. Joining them as guest performers are Susan Chapel, Jeanne Douville and Jamie Pederson. Although all five of the performers dabble in both spoken word and artistic physical motion, Douville and Pederson focus primarily on the speaking parts while the other three emphasize the dance element of the show. Throughout the performance, dance flows around and through every monologue. Even when the main dancers deliver their own lines, they continue moving gracefully around the stage in ways that reflect the childhood memories and adult conflicts they recount. Lengthy dances keep the audience enthralled between speaking parts, with music that ranges from soothing and beautiful to quietly but painfully dissonant to reflect what has been and will be spoken. The monologues recall past and present family tensions, and the relatives who try unsuccessfully to gloss them over until getting together for the holidays becomes an ordeal. Childhood and adulthood sibling rivalry, gift-giving protocols and awkward Christmas dinners are only a few of the unfortunately real subjects covered in this reflection of the family conflict and denial that too often plague the holidays. Grudge Match: Re-Match deserves to become a holiday classic for its beautiful dances, brilliant monologues and complex portrayal of human emotion. While children might not be able to fully appreciate the unconventional choreography and candid

CHRISTMAS CHEER. Jamie Pederson, Stephanie Kriege, Susan Chapel, Katharine M. Stricker and Jeanne Douville share a moment of forced harmony in Callous Physical Theatres Grudge Match: ReMatch. (Photos courtesy of Barefoot Studios)

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Tacoma Weekly - Because Community Matters

descriptions of family conflict, adults shouldnt miss this humorous and touching holiday reality check. The entire show runs between 50 minutes and an hour long, and shows at 8 p.m. Dec. 15 and 16 and at 2 p.m. Dec. 17. Barefoot Studios is located at 311 Puyallup Ave. in downtown Tacoma. For ticket information, call (253) 627-2273 or visit www.barefootcallous.org. Go Back

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