F R I DAY, NOV E M BER 20, 2009T H E E X A M I N ER 29
ENTERTAINMENT
ON STAGE
By Nancy Dunham
Special to The Examiner
Living in Chicago isn't the only
thing Umphrey's McGee guitarist
Brendan Bayliss has in common with
the Second City comedy troupe.
Umphrey's McGee has been
staging Stew Art Series (called
S2 shows) -- which are basically
improv concerts dictated by audi-
ence brainstorming -- that have a
lot in common with some skits by
Second City.
Although Bayliss hasn't yet seen
a Second City show, his band's
improv -- done a few hours earlier
than some of Umphrey's standard
concerts -- is as fun-filled as the
comedy troupe's.
"We were just brainstorming
about ways to improve the show
and came up with this, to get the
audiences more involved," he said.
"We want to always invent new
ways to entertain."
Though Bayliss is hesitant to
discuss specifics of any given show,
it's likely plenty of new material will
be debuted in both regular and S2
shows.
"We are constantly just writing
and recording," Bayliss said. "We are
always changing the [set list] each
night, so it's pretty easy to keep it
fresh. That's what it's all about."
Soon after Umphrey's McGee
formed in South Bend, Ind., in 1997,
its members moved into the ranks
of elite jam bands, thanks to their
eclectic shows. The band is one of
the ultimate road warriors, building
its reputation by playing literally
thousands of shows. Although the
band members come across as laid-
back jam band types, the music is
built on precision. In fact, many of
the members have degrees in music,
and all of them informally but con-
sistently study music, watching tape
after tape of their performances
and analyzing the best ways to
improve.
In that way, the band members
aren't that different from Frank
Zappa, whom they cite as a major
influence on their music and shows.
"One thing we try to take from
Zappa [stage shows] is a transition
out of left field," Bayliss said. "We
try to have a good time. ... I love
looking out [in the audience] and
seeing people singing along; that's
what it's all about."
Umphrey's McGee brings jams, and a little fun, to 9:30 Club
By Chris Klimek
Special to The Examiner
Solas Nua's current produc-
tion of Enda Walsh's "Disco
Pigs" runs only 60 minutes, and
you're relieved when it's over. Not
because it's bad -- on the contrary,
it's a work of sparkling, propulsive
genius, astutely staged and bril-
liantly performed.
But know this: Its brilliance
is of the combative, exhaust-
ing variety. Its pace? Frenetic!
Its language? Formidable. Our
protagonists/narrators, Pig and
Runt, don't communicate in mere
Irish slang, but in their own inti-
mate, infantile, often impenetrable
argot, one that recalls the Rus-
sian-influenced dialect Anthony
Burgess concocted for his novel
"A Clockwork Orange." (Malcolm
McDowell memorably cooed it
while terrorizing London with his
"droogs" in Stanley Kubrick's film
adaptation.)
Fortunately, the two perform-
ers, Rex Daugherty and Madeleine
Carr, are so magnetic and persua-
sive as Pig and Runt, respectively,
that you feel invested in their fates
even when you don't understand
what they're saying. Which, at
it happens, is almost always of
less import than what they're
doing: These are performances of
Olympian athleticism. Carr and
Daugherty are almost never still
-- dancing, brawling and execut-
ing other bravura feats of nimble,
even gymnastic blocking that offer
a physical repre-
sentation of the
changing shape
and darkening
boundaries of their
relationship.
Pig and Runt
are lifelong friends
born to neighbor-
ing families within
moments of one
another. A re-
enactment of their
births (!) is but the
first of many inven-
tive set pieces spun
from the show's sole prop, a shop-
ping cart. The black-box staging
is appropriate for Walsh's oppres-
sive depiction of Pig and Runt's
own private Cork, Ireland, where
they run amok, stealing booze
and smashing noses to keep their
boredom at bay. One reliable diver-
sion is when Runt chats up boys in
pubs just so Pig can charge in and
damage them, pretending to be
her aggrieved boyfriend. They're
not innocent -- they're feral. And
like most beasts, they're subject to
the same cruelty they dish out.
By the time Pig and Runt hit 17,
their relationship has necessarily
thickened. What happens if a day
comes when Runt would prefer to
talk to someone other than him?
You can probably guess. The rev-
elation here is not in the tale, but in
the telling. Walsh's poetry of primi-
tivism conjures a vivid, strange
world, and Carr and Daugherty
make us believe the tragedy of
their having to live in it.
Solas Nua previously produced
"Disco Pigs" in
2005. Company
co-founders Dan
Brick and Linda
Murray were the
stars of that ver-
sion; this time,
they're the direc-
tors. This version
had a sold-out off-
Broadway run last
year. Its Washing-
ton engagement
is an unexpected
but welcome vic-
tory lap, hastily
arranged after the show Solas
Nua had originally booked for
November, the out-of-Ireland pre-
miere of Philip McMahon's "Danny
and Chantelle (Still Here)" fell
through. It was to feature a pair
of supremely gifted actors: Daugh-
erty and Carr.
No matter. "Disco Pigs" may
have been the company's second
choice, but it's demanding, heart-
breaking drama of the first order.
Solas Nua's `Disco Pigs' is
frenetic, demanding drama
If you go:
`Disco Pigs'
Where: Flashpoint Mead
Theatre Lab, 926 G St. NW
When: Through Dec. 5
Info: $20; call 800-494-8487
or visit solasnua.org
Approximately 60 minutes,
performed without
intermission
COURTESY PHOTO
Rex Daugherty and Madeleine Carr
star as Pig and Runt in Solas Nua's
production of "Disco Pigs."
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If you go
Umphrey's McGee
Where: 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW
When: 10 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Info: $25 per show; S2 show is
sold out; 930.com
COURTESY PHOTO
Umphrey's McGee is set to play the 9:30 Club on Friday and Saturday.
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