What: Brilliant! The Blinding Enlightenment of Nikola Tesla
Where: Belfry Theatre
When: To Dec. 14
Rating: 4 1/2 stars (out of five)
- - -
Although everyone knows Thomas Edison, today most have forgotten Nikola Tesla. In his time, the scientist was a superstar. It was Tesla who pioneered important inventions leading to the practical use of alternating current, X-rays, wireless radio and oodles of other things.
In 1931 he made the cover of Time magazine. Yet by then, 75-year-old Tesla was a recluse living in a Manhattan hotel. The fading genius was obsessing about harnessing the Earth's electrical energies to provide humankind with unlimited power. He was also studying the habits of pigeons invited to nest upon his desk -- an unhygienic habit that got him kicked out of one hotel.
Vancouver's Electric Company Theatre, allied with the Belfry Theatre, has just opened a re-energized version of its decade-old show: Brilliant! The Blinding Enlightenment of Nikola Tesla. In many ways, the production lives up to the title. As a piece of physical theatre, Brilliant! is unquestionably brilliant. In 21 years of attending Belfry Theatre productions, I cannot recall a play more spectacular on a purely visual level.
The Electric Company Theatre is renowned for its ability to create feasts for the eye. This troupe truly brings the theatrical back into theatre. Film and slide projections of warbling pigeons and mathematical runes are deployed with virtuoso panache. Lighting is used like a magic wand. A giant globe tumbles to and fro mysteriously; fog swirls around a bold set defined by monumental bolted girders. We are pulled into a fantastical world suggestive of the one existing within Tesla's megalomaniac mind.
Some parts are unforgettable. In one of Brilliant!'s best sequences, Jonathon Young as Tesla enacts a risible experiment with three assistants who appear to get electrocuted. It's done to replicate silent film footage, with flickering lighting and -- best of all -- actors who mimic the odd jerkiness of such clips. Young's acutely twitchy movements are a revelation; it is nothing short of incredible.
Also successful is a tap-dance standoff between Edison -- who seems to have nicked many of his rival's ideas -- and Tesla. Edison (nicely played by Anthony F. Ingram, who also narrates well) comes off as vaudevillian snake-oil salesman, touting the superiority of his pet project, direct current or DC. Tesla, a proponent of AC, counters with his own Slavic tap dance.
While Electric Company scores top marks for visuals, the script -- although well-crafted -- doesn't achieve the same brilliance. Creating a play around the life of such a fascinating historical figure is a fine idea -- especially as Tesla's high-voltage experiments jibe well with the troupe's ability to dazzle. Yet the collaboratively written comedy-drama doesn't delve far beyond the narrative of Tesla's rise and fall.
What does this cautionary tale say about Tesla? Or society? We, the audience, are given few clues, as though merely recounting the story is sufficient.
It seems curious that, as Tesla's mind started to unravel (so beautifully depicted in a restaurant scene in which he perceives everything as numbers) Young continues to portray the inventor as well- coiffed, impeccably attired and sharp of movement. A sub-plot about an unrequited love interest between Tesla and his friend Katherine seems forced. Young's Tesla is certainly strange and energetic, yet he doesn't exude the somewhat sexual charisma offered by so many true visionaries.
Oddly enough, Brilliant! is such an accomplished piece of theatre overall, these failings seem almost beside the point -- practically quibbles. This large-cast production (nine actors) is surely a triumph, and well worth seeking out.
