THEATER - "cloud:burst"

cloud:burst begins not with a bang, but with a whimper: appropriate for a show whose title refers to the death of the dreams clouds carry. It makes sense that Dominic spends this one-man show imprisoned in the crepuscular glow of a cross—his mistake led to his daughter’s murder. Little wonder he sputters in half-broken fragments and phrases: he can’t admit the guilt he feels. “When Natalie went out to play, on the day, I only had to . . . Words, Helen, I only had to say . . .”

For eight weeks, Dominic has at least had the cold comfort of the ever-listening media to balance his wife’s accusatory silence at home. However, the play picks up with those vans pulling away, ditching the passé story, though of course Dominic’s life—his story—continues. Haunted by vivid memories of his ten-year-old daughter, he tries harassing a reporter into writing more: he needs there to be more, so that this is not the end. This leads to a physical confrontation with his wife—tricky to stage, since Dominic is playing both parts. For all Graeme Hawley’s good work in this role, cloud:burst falters a bit in those moments of back-and-forth dialogue. Hawley doesn’t alter his voice, which keeps the perspective properly trained on Dominic, but it makes the heated scenes hard to follow.

Chris O’Connell’s work is generally clear, though it operates in subtleties. As a writer, he keeps the memories jagged, and as a director, he keeps all motion to a minimum, hounding his actor from all sides with a prison of lighting and a cacophony of sound. Unfortunately, his work is so reductive that it’s barely forty minutes. That’s good for the show, but to balance the evening (and the ticket price), the Brits Off Broadway program needs another one-act.

At least cloud:burst ends on a somewhat happy note. The cross seems more like the shadow of a tombstone by the play’s end, but Dominic has finally managed to step out of that ensnaring light, to make one final, hopeful statement: “Cloud. Life, burst. Begins.” He is neither forgiven nor guilty, but he is, at least. He is.

[published 6-6-06 in Show Business Weekly]