Just got back from trudging through sleet and snow in October to see the single performance given by storyteller extraordinaire, Antonio Sacre at the United Solo Festival at Theater Row. This festival is amazing. That they somehow manage to gather and program 66 unique shows into a single festival space over a span of just a few weeks is in itself an amazing feat and possible fodder for a future post. But right now I want to talk about the incredible show I just enjoyed. In fact, I have to say this was the first time in recent memory that I have stood at the end of a show because I was honestly moved to do so from the bottom of my heart and soul. Even if no one else had been standing (but of course everyone was) as Antonio made his way to the final brilliant moment, there was not one single part of my being not moving in the same direction, up, up, up to cheer this brilliant artist on. It's a shame the United Solo fest only gives each show one shot. But then, when you're programming 66, that is, perhaps, understandable.
I won't give a blow-by-blow of Antonio's monologue which is called The Next Best Thing because to do so would cheapen it. Instead I want to talk about one aspect of Sacre's gift. And that is, how he tells a story. In a way what he does is simple. And yet not. How he doles out information is key to how we wrings the most humanity and power out of each tiny bend in the road of his tale.
I've always thought mystery is the essence of all good storytelling and Sacre understands that better than most. He tells us only what he needs us to know in order to keep us hooked and then, when he reveals the other parts of the picture, because he's such a brilliant story architect, the effect is all the more chilling.
One example. This particular monologue describes some of Antonio's experiences offering his brand of storytelling to young prisoners in D.C. and Los Angeles. On one of his first visits to a girl's detention center in the D.C. area, one of the teenage girls turns her chair away from Sacre to stare out the window at the concrete wall on the other side of the bars. As he's leaving at the end of his visit, the girl says something to him. What she says is so surprising and the choice Sacre makes about when to reveal what it is, is absolutely dead on. The information is doled out precisely when he knows it will pack the most punch. Antonio Sacre is in total command of our journey. And he's a masterful captain.
Sacre performed at one of E.C.'s Brevity Fests in Los Angeles and while his short excerpt was hilarious fun, you don't really get the full effect of his gifts without seeing one of his entire shows start to finish. I'm grateful I had the opportunity last night.
P.S. Paul Stein's direction is flawless.
