The message from the depths of the red rocks of a reservation in New Mexico to the folks fighting it out over Palestine is that those in charge need to follow in the footsteps of Native American tribal leaders and sit down and talk it out. Or so says the group's leader, Chief Birdsong (Russell Means), a rotund man decorated in long plaits, a hide outfit and a feather, at the close of the somewhat eccentric play Palestine, New Mexico, which ends today at the prestigious Mark Taper Forum in downtown Los Angeles.
Most of the play proved to be somewhat ludicrous, or wildly imaginative and humorous to say the least, but it was done in such a way that it gave the audience an opportunity to roar out loud with laughter. And underlying the proceedings was a serious message about peace. At the heart of the story is Captain Catherine Siler (Kirsten Potter), who finds herself as unwelcome in the US as she was overseas in the depths of war, when she comes to New Mexico to resolve a mystery surrounding the death of her former colleague and the chief's son, Private Birdsong, in Afghanistan.
Siler encounters a colourful array of locals wandering around the rocks. They ham it up in the presence of this young soldier, who manages to hold the play together with a strong performance and keep cool and rational in the depths of the desert heat. After tracking down a GI who has gone AWOL, Siler is able to go some way towards solving the mystery and Private Birdsong is finally laid to rest. His coffin, decked in an American flag, is wheeled in on a wooden cart and left stationary on a path running above the rocks, to the backdrop of a video stream of clouds.
This picturesque effect was part of the creative sets, which were brilliant at times and often highly amusing. At one point a video stream of Osama bin Laden whizzed by above the rock formations that are typical of New Mexico. A giant cactus walked into the middle of the stage (the Variety magazine reviewer imagined it did so with a John Wayne-like stride) and a bird man danced around in wings made of black feathers. Meanwhile, a colourful light show cast its shadow on the rocks and pipe music hushed the audience into silence. At one point, in one of Siler's flashbacks, men with long beards and machine guns infiltrated the stage and ran around shooting at imaginary soldiers. The sets were created by Rachel Hauck with costumes by Christopher Acebo, lighting and projections by Alexander V Nichols and original music and sound by Paul James Prendergast.
Written by Richard Montoya, Palestine, New Mexico was directed by Lisa Peterson and is a production of Culture Clash, a Los Angeles-based Chicano performance group for whom the theme of a loss of a homeland is resonant. Chicanos are US citizens of Mexican descent who adopted this term in a grass-roots movement to better assert their rights. Palestine, New Mexico was well received in Los Angeles, where theatre can be hit or miss. "Lunatic irreverence - the ensemble pulls out all the stops - a rich premise and another sign of Culture Clash's ambition to plumb new multicultural depths of meaning by broadening its Chicano worldview," said Charles McNulty of the Los Angeles Times. "Stunning effects ... outrageous imagery and serious subtext ... a gallery of pungent and often moving character portraits," added Bob Verini from Variety.