'Endangered Species' risks alienating audience

'Endangered Species' risks alienating audience

By Mariam K. Sutalaksana

JAKARTA (JP): A patchwork of hysteria embroidered with sexual
innuendoes, slapstick comedy and a stitch of music, dance and
acrobatics would most rightfully illustrate the opening
performance by The Kosh last Thursday night at Gedung Kesenian
Jakarta.

Endangered Species, the title of their show, was presented by
the double act Sian Williams and Mark Hopkins. Many of their
pieces were somewhat deranged, but the section on the struggle
between the sailor character and the waitress fatale was a
definite highlight of the show.

Using costume changes on stage as their major transitional
scheme, the duets were more like separate acts stringed together
forcibly. The first section reminded one of a Broadway musical
with dialog, monologs and singing. However, the vocal ability of
both performers was mediocre. The lady's manner of singing
reminded one of Eliza Doolittle as the flower girl in My Fair
Lady while Hopkins was definitely no Pavarotti.

The dancing in the opening act was slightly crude, almost like
a Benny Hill comedy. With Hopkins' trousers falling off of his
hips and suspenders dangling off his back, he looked like a clown
out of place.

The next act was unexpected. After taking off his clothes with
Williams' assistance, Hopkins sat on a suitcase, dressed only in
his flesh colored underpants. He sat talking to himself about his
life while a lady dressed him in a tight bluish-green costume
with a blue sequin swimming cap and a string of costume pearls.

The music started as the double act began their pseudo
acrobatic modern dance. The lady chanted monosyllabic tunes as
she moved from one position to another. The man, whose leg
movements did not match the lady's, was carried and lifted by
her. It looked like a mockery of modern dance, lying somewhere
between French cabaret and Le Cirque de Soleil, a Canadian circus
group, performing in Las Vegas.

The segment ended with Hopkins sitting on Williams' hips while
she carried him to the piano with her back bent backward. The
lady should be applauded for trying to sing in the most strenuous
physical positions.

Again, Hopkins took off his clothes. He put on a baggy,
yellow, long sleeve shirt with baggy dark trousers and a black
beret. The lady looked like a cocktail waitress in her black
mini-skirt, black stockings and tight striped shirt. Despite the
lack of clarity about how this segment fit into the overall
picture, it was the most captivating.

The struggle between the man and the woman was convincing and
the choreography of the scene was appealing. After this segment,
a tap dancer with blonde braids and a ventriloquist making risque
remarks became a prelude to a solo tap routine. The evening
dragged during this segment.

There were sparks of interest gathered here and there
throughout the last sections of the show, but most of them were
repetitions of trying to be different. At one point, Hopkins
changed into the lower portion of a pair of trousers and covered
the upper part of his half naked body with a trench coat. This
elicited some laughter from the audience.

On another occasion, Hopkins sang about war and dying as a
Florence "Williams" Nightingale dressed him in bandages. This was
a fun act to follow. The way the warrior was decorated with
strings while he kept on singing made the sparse audience smile.

Overall, if one seeks a quilt of performing arts, this was
something to witness. These jacks of all trades bring new meaning
to three-in-one in the performing arts.

"We are doing something new and different... they will all
like us," said the performers throughout the night. This may be
true, but the Kosh should concentrate on improving the coherence
of Endangered Species. Like the saying goes, more does not always
mean better. Hopkins is undoubtedly a strong actor and should
probably stick to that, and Williams perhaps to being a dancer
and musician.

Their attempt to do everything in one hour was daring but
unsuccessful. They need to brush up their skills or concentrate
on their strengths. Otherwise, their show may also become an
endangered species.