AmericanTheaterWeb Original News & Reviews

In The Builders Association fascinating new piece Continuous City, J.V. (Rizwan Mirza), the entrepreneur behind Xubu, a new online video-based networking application has a favorite saying: "Family comes first." His belief in the primacy of families, however, doesn't extend to Mike (Harry Sinclair, who's also written the piece), the urban anthropologist that's helping to prove J.V.'s theories about what Xubu can do for communities around the globe. Mike's zipping around the globe, trying to desperately to stay in touch with his pre-teen daughter Sam (a wonderfully precocious and never cloying Olivia Timothee), using the video-software. Unfortunately, Sam, who'd rather IM with her nanny (Moe Angelos) than talk to her directly, doesn't feel the warmth from dad, and their relationship is rapidly spiraling downward.

The deterioration of Mike's relationship with Sam is a wonderfully human and terrifically moving aspect to this multimedia piece, conceived by Sinclair with director Marianne Weems and dramaturg James Gibbs. Without this poignant and pungent story, "City" could otherwise become a cold and sterile investigation of how being continually connected robs us of true one-on-one connectivity. Nearly 30 screens – which pop open and shut like butterfly wings – are suspended around and above the stage of BAM's Harvey Theatre, where "City" plays through Saturday. During the course of the show, theatergoers see not only Mike and Sam's interactions (she's also on stage), but also J.V.'s webcam chats with women around the world that he's stringing along. Nanny Deb (also performing live) makes entries in her video blog about her attempts to spot celebs in Manhattan, and from time to time, videos featuring actual internet users come into the picture. In these, audiences hear about what "home" means to people who have emigrated or been displaced from their homelands.

It's a rich mix of sights and sounds (Dan Dobson's ethereal soundscape and original score heightens the experience marvelously), and through the mix of live action and video projection, a strong cautionary story about the importance of human-to-human interaction emerges. The piece even manages to become, on some levels, a bit of a spine-tingling corporate saga as J.V. races with the clock to secure the funding he needs to take Xubu "live" globally.

While The Builders Association's success in using technology has long been heralded, and their innovative uses of multimedia continue here impressively, they've rarely told a story as emotionally rich. It's this new layer to the group's work that makes "City" so satisfying.

---- Andy Propst

Continuous City continues through November 22 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Harvey Theatre (651 Fulton Street). Performances are nightly at 7:30pm. Tickets, $20-$55, can be purchased by calling 718-636-4100 or by visiting www.BAM.org.