NOIRESQUE–THE FALLEN ANGEL
Terminal City is of course a distorted reflection of our own society, where “playing the game” is the key to success, without regard to how the rules can abuse and even destroy people. It’s a world where spontaneous thought has been replaced by advertising slogans (“Oh my pause that refreshes!” one character says as part of a litany of laments). And it is a world where love is forever distant. The citizens of Terminal City often creep along with their ears pressed to the ground, for under the city their loved ones are trapped in subway cars that cannot be stopped.
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Despite the performers’ hard work and skill, Noiresque never quite jells. The pieces are often fascinating, but Chong’s text doesn’t ever surrender its essential raison d’etre. The final scene, in which the identity of the ruler of Terminal City is revealed, is disappointingly anticlimactic. Perhaps I expected certainties from a piece fundamentally about uncertainty–clearly this work wants to pose questions rather than present conclusions. But for me, the irrational, arduous journey I agreed to take in watching this piece was not satisfying. I wanted some payoff at the end of the line.
