Trimpin (from the Other Minds Festival 28 Web page)
Last night at the Brava Theater, Other Minds launched its 28th annual festival. The first program, which will be performed again tonight, was devoted entirely to a single composition, Trimpin’s The Cello Quartet. While the title suggested chamber music, there was only one performing cellist, Lori Goldston. However, Trimpin’s set design included additional cellos in unlikely locations, beyond the reach of any performer. Serving perhaps as “alter-egos” of those distant cellos were three circus artists: Bri Crabtree, Joel Herzfel, and Calvin Kai Ku.
Trimpin used the pre-performance discussion to synopsize what would occur during the performance. Since the discussion took place on the stage where all the props (including the cellos) had already been placed, this talk amounted to a “performance without the performers.” Indeed, Trimpin’s account of what would be happening was so clear and vivid that the performance itself often seemed to be teetering on the brink of an afterthought. As a result, Trimpin’s narration threatened to overshadow many of the episodes in the staging itself, with only the unconventionally designed cellos tending to upstage most of the performers.
In many ways The Cello Quartet may best be described as the realization of a concept abundant with rich ideas. The challenge was bringing that concept to life through performance. Nevertheless, even when Trimpin’s introductory descriptions tended to overshadow what he brought to realization in the performance itself, there was much to enjoy over the course of last night’s journey, even if, more often than not, the visual tended to overshadow the auditory,
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