SOUL LEAVES HER BODY is a multimedia mélange running at HERE Arts Center through November 23
HERE Arts Center
145 Sixth Ave. at Dominick St.
Through November 23, $25
212-352-3101
www.here.org
A multimedia mélange of interpretive dance, film, poetry, and song, SOUL LEAVES HER BODY is a creative but too often confusing production running at HERE through November 23. The seventy-minute show pairs a contemporary story with a historical tale, centering on an arranged marriage between a young man (Sean Donovan) and woman (codirector and choreographer Jennie MaryTai Liu) whom the woman’s mother (Leslie Cuyjet) strangely refers to as brother and sister. The three characters have alter egos, dressed in ancient Japanese costumes and makeup, who appear on a four-paneled screen at the back of the stage. Later, the screens move to the front, projecting a film directed by Peter Flaherty that deals with a mah jongg scam run by three siblings living on a sampan in Hong Kong harbor. Unfortunately, the concurrent fractured narratives and awkward movements will leave audiences scratching their heads as scene after scene falls short of the show’s lofty expectations. Perhaps the preshow cocktail talk on November 11 or the postshow discussions on November 11 and 15 will shed more light on SOUL LEAVES HER BODY, which is part of the HERE Artist Residency Program.