'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.