June 24-30, 2004

artpicks

Whack! Pow! Blam!

by Juliet Fletcher

theater

The first draft of a play is never set in stone. But it's always fascinating to hear of a largely autobiographical work that is produced one way, then later shifts, and next appears in public seeming altogether different. It's as if the writer-performer himself could revise the passage of time, remember it differently. And often, this shift in tone makes it more true.

This week, two strong local performers present their one-woman shows, not new material, but material retooled for different impact. In the double bill Blam!, Betsy Herbert presents "Sleep Study," a prickly, hilarious monologue detailing the privations she experienced as part of a NASA-sponsored experiment; and Debra Disbrow offers "These Are the Deb Tapes," which in its 2003 Fringe version wryly explored her own personal neuroses.

David Disbrow, Debra's brother and the director of both pieces, suggests that each has moved from an originally satirical stance. "Deb Tapes" in particular, which tangentially dealt with the schizophrenia of David and Debra's father, became a project that excited and touched both of them. "We decided that this was something that both of us had wanted to delve into, to make something meaningful about," remembers David. In this production, Debra's account of searching for her father during his three-and-a-half-month absence centers on disorientation, his and hers (bolstered with video by Bob Hering and sound by Kevin Francis). This shift away from arch humor towards honesty affected "Sleep Study" too, focusing more on the sad empathy between the clique of experiment subjects. And, from these separate pieces, David draws a through-line: "Both pieces deal with the moment when the world doesn't feel as big, where your choices feel more limited and some of those limitations involve how you perceive others and/or judge others."

Blam!, June 24-July 3, 8 p.m., $12, Walnut Street Studio Theater 5, 825 Walnut St., 215-732-6372.