Yellow Fever

The Dowling Studio at the Guthrie is an endless source of excitement for me.  Black box theaters have always been my favorite, with their heavy black curtains and uncanny ability to make the fourth wall both obvious and permeable. I was, therefore, excited for another opportunity to see a production in this great space, this time of Yellow Fever, produced by Mu Performing Arts.

Set in the early 1970s in Vancouver, the noir script follows detective Sam Shikaze's investigation of the disappearance of a local celebrity.  There's a spitfire dame, an Irish roughneck, a contemptible villain, and a lovable sidekick to flesh out not only Sam's pursuit of the lost girl but his illumination (for the audience and his fellow characters) of a city's losing battle with racism.

I saw the show on opening night and I always hesitate to criticize in such cases, it can take a few performances to solidly work out the kinks and inhabit a show seamlessly. The trouble with a noir script, however, is that rapid-fire dialogue and well-timed snark are crucial and the speed and confidence just wasn't quite there last night. Noir is a delicate creature, needing a balance between camp and authenticity, and without actors' confidence, the show can feel flat and superficial.  Even as the show progressed, I could sense the actors getting more and more confident, so that by the final scenes, the dialogue was progressing more naturally and with more spunk.

I'd be interested to hear how people react to the show in a week, after a string of performances have built up the actors' confidence further and allowed them to grow more comfortable in their roles. The set and lighting provide great support for moving across the timeline of Sam's pursuit. The dialogue surrounding Sam, offered often by his lawyer comrade or his dear friend and cafe owner, Rosie, provides touches of humor to guide along a darker underlying story. Saucy reporter, Nancy, manages to draw out our heavy-hearted hero in an excellent second act scene. Those relationships provide the pulse for the play and a few more runs will strengthen that heartbeat, making the story itself infinitely more engaging and exciting to watch.

Keep this one in mind for rush seats.  The rush line for Dowling performances are only $15, definitely a steal for a show of this calibre! Yellow Fever plays through March 24th.

Follow me on Twitter @TheMinneapolite