NASTY LITTLE STORIES–TEN YEARS WORTH
THIEF AND ARTICULATE HERO
Clocking in at almost two hours, Nasty Little Stories features seven pieces from Rago’s repertoire, from 1980 to the present. Most have been revised or updated, ostensibly benefiting from her artistic maturity. Yet the works that seemed less complete, less polished, were the most recent: “My Weight Loss Center” and “Millions.”
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Generally Rago tells stories about ordinary creatures, usually heterosexual women, often suburban, whose seemingly comfortable lives betray a certain sadness and angst. They have an inability to handle change, and so they tend to rationalize even the most pathetic circumstances. For them, failure would be a personal indictment. “A little happiness is a precious thing,” says one of Rago’s characters–but the line could easily have been spoken by any of them.
Still, with its collage of personal narratives, “Millions” seems to promise something new: a rawer, less allegorical Rago, whose continuous experimentation is always admirable.
Still, there are some really shiny moments in Thief and Articulate Hero. Batman has a veritable buffet of voices at his disposal (though he could use a bit more control) and a wonderful way of using his body. He hasn’t figured out how to use all the weapons in his arsenal yet, but that’s OK–there’s a sense, even when he misses the mark, that eventually he will.
