Call the babysitter, bring in the cat, fill up the old wreck, and head down I-25 to a strip mall near the corner of Alameda and Coors Road to catch the fiercely comic, surprisingly poignant, and undeniably affecting solo performance of Taos native David Garver in Eric Bogosian’s take on “a crazy out there” America on the cusp of the Twenty-First Century—Wake Up and Smell the Coffee (1999)—at Greg Sorano’s The Studios (10131 Coors Road, Albuquerque), a newly designed and created black box performance space, on May 2 & 3, 2008.
David Garver does more than just bring to life a cast of fourteen vastly different characters, ranging from an obsequious actor to a capitalist holy man to a troubled homeless street person to an Old Nick himself slick sell-job to a host of all-too-real airport figures. He inhabits them. In an intimate environment with a few minimal props and immense energy and talent, Garver peoples a world that mirrors the absurdities and chaos of contemporary existence.
In a post-performance discussion after a preview on April 17, 2008, at The Studios, Garver revealed that his favorite Bogosian character in the piece is the cynical, hypocritical movie producer who is trying to persuade the actor-survivor of a plane crash that his story will be instructive and financially rewarding for all. He is a BS artist who mixes bits of pre-packaged humanitarianism with enormous amounts of chutzpah. As Pogo once said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Garver opines, “America is overly obsessed with celebrity. Pop culture has become the voice of Western civilization. Bogosian writes brave, honest, poignant, passionate, and hysterically funny characters—warped and wild, beautiful and sad. Most characters can’t wait to sink their teeth in them” (Dawn Singh Interview—April 2008).
Garver went on to expound on why he chose to recreate these characters a decade after Bogosian first created them: “The play is such a roller coaster ride; it is such a stretch…. The characters are so rich. There is a vulnerability about them and a visceral feel to them.” Equally important, Wake Up and Smell the Coffee sharpens Garver’s theatrical skills and keeps him honest: “Doing this piece helps me keep my chops. I like the edge and humanity in the work and how it takes courage to do it.” Finally, in the post-9/11 world of fear and self-consciousness, Garver is intrigued by the three linked voices in the play—the characters, the actor playing the characters, and Garver himself—that inform and complement one another.
In a production of Bogosian by the Working Class Theater of Taos under the direction of colleague, Ron Isherwood, David Garver first brought Wake Up’s characters to a New Mexico stage. He met The Studios founder Greg Serano while both were working on the ABC/Family drama Wildfire that was filmed in and around Albuquerque. Greg relocated to Albuquerque in 2005 and came to realize that with the burgeoning film industry in the Land of Enchantment that there was a need for more trained local actors. The usual strategy of importing Los Angeles actors seemed unnecessarily time consuming and expensive. He began teaching thirty to forty local students, in part, “to raise the bar for local actors” and to create a professional pool of local theater-trained artists for film and television projects produced and/or shot in New Mexico. Greg Serano is a can-do bundle of energy who “believes in his students, makes them better actors, and, in raising their dramatic skills, shows them and potential employers that locals can compete with the best in the industry.” This is Greg Serano’s first effort as a producer, but based on the preview of David Garver’s take on Bogosian that I attended, it certainly won’t be his last. In fact, David Garver’s fondest wish would be to perform Wake Up and Smell the Coffee in Santa Fe. Area groups take note.
Curtain time for Wake Up and Smell the Coffee is 7:30 P.M., Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May 3. For ticket information and directions, call (505) 771-0417 or email anactorsspace@thestudios.biz. The run may be extended based on interest and demand.
For further information about THE STUDIO, please contact Dawn Singh at the above telephone number or at dawn@dawnsinghpublicity.com.
