THEATER REVIEW : ‘Red Sky’: A Journey of Life, Humor and Music

A short English-language program note was tucked away in the otherwise completely Chinese playbill for Performance Workshop’s touring “Red Sky” at the Irvine Barclay Friday and Saturday. It characterized the eminent Taiwanese troupe’s gentle portrait of aging as having been “constructed more on the principles of poetry or music” than those of “conventional” theater.

In fact, “Red Sky” does play rather like a concerto for a small ensemble. And though some of the poetry may have been lost on the non-Chinese-speaking members of the audience (even with the English supertitles), the eight actors endeared us to the irascible, foolish, passionate, funny and very human old folks they portrayed, who are living out their final hours in a Taiwanese retirement home.

Living, as opposed to dying, is most certainly what these old people are about. But director Stan Lai never let the audience forget that, for all of us, time is finite. Two large digital clocks, the kind seen in American sports arenas, flanked the stage. They were set for 123:00 minutes; the countdown began as the lights came up.

There was no intermission. More than two hours with no break is a challenge to the audience; the clocks became reference points for how well we were holding up. I found myself checking them regularly, sometimes surprised at how swiftly the time had gone, sometimes dismayed to see that I would be sitting a good while longer, sometimes noting poignantly that for the characters onstage, the clocks hitting 00:00 meant a good deal more than a chance to stretch.

*

The visual production was deliberately spare. Settings were suggested with a few set pieces and the changing flood of color that illuminated the painted backdrop. Aside from the God-like clocks, the images were like delicate miniatures etched into a soft stone: The backgrounds had faded and left the old people floating alone in the front, a telling metaphor for the isolation of old age.

The very first image of the play is of a bed, shrouded in a dark blanket, isolated in a spotlight. When the shroud is lifted, the bed is revealed as a pile of suitcases and boxes ready to accompany the old people on their final journey.

The leitmotifs that echo throughout “Red Sky” are of journeying. The production is bracketed by the suggestion of a train ride and the scenes are like stops along the way, each with its particular scenery and sense of farewell.

The journey itself is full of life, music, humor, and reminders to look around and enjoy the view while there is still time. Singling out an individual performance is impossible, partly because the program did not list the actors’ names in English, but mostly because each and every performer was wonderful in his or her own right. Their skills were obvious, their ensemble work exemplary, and one only wished that one could speak Chinese so as to have appreciated their artistry more fully.