Styles and Substance

Reno thinks that the diagram of a woman’s interior that comes in every package of Tampax tampons looks like the electrical system of her Volvo. To the manic comedian, the mysterious nature of the female genitalia--as compared to the relentless obviousness of the male genitalia--is all part of a plot against women. Reno’s paranoia is widespread. She also imagines a swaggering racist government official unhappy about having to set aside a Black History Month. “If the Negroes want a whole month, give ‘em that short, [expletive] little month,” the official says, adjusting his pants.

The ranting comedian was one of four artists who came for a one-night visit on Friday night to UCLA’s Veterans Wadsworth Theater. All four are connected with P.S. 22, the highly regarded performance art venue on New York’s Lower East Side. The show, “Field Trips,” was an eclectic mix of performance styles--from the young, urban toughs of Danny Hoch’s dramatic monologues, to the androgynous song stylings of John Kelly, to the modern dance of Molissa Fenley, who was keeping rather close to the ground performing her first new work since collapsing onstage from a knee injury last year.

The last to take the stage, Reno blasted away any artsy pretensions that might have been gathering onstage.

Actually, her entrance as an affected dancer was a little mean. It came on the heels of Fenley’s trio of dances, which looked precious in the context of these other, more edgy acts. Fenley’s interlude, called “Regions,” included a lot of reverent expression, elaborate arm extension and staring at the floor. She was accompanied by Maggi Payne’s music, a tribute to jet, ocean and vaguely industrial sound. At times the music was so weirdly pitched that some people wondered if packs of dogs might be gathering outside the theater.

Reno, for one, didn’t take it very seriously. And while Reno’s energy and intelligence is always appreciated, in truth she was not in best form. Apparently under-rehearsed, she searched for words and phrases that did not always come in time. As usual, she was in a hyperkinetic, angry mode, which combined a little of Bette Midler with a bit of Gilbert Gottfried and a dash of Richard Lewis.

For this viewer, the high point of the night was the first performer, Danny Hoch, a specialist in the voices and mannerisms of young city dwellers. He told one story uncharacteristically out of character--as himself. After the airing of his HBO special, which featured an array of characters from a variety of ethnicities, he received a call from the “Seinfeld” people. They wanted him to play a Spanish pool guy named Ramon who admires and ultimately bothers Jerry.

Hoch suspected that the character of Ramon the Spanish pool guy was offensive, but he wondered if he was being too sensitive. He took the job on the condition that the character not be called Ramon and flew to Los Angeles. He read the part in a Brooklyn street accent, which was quickly deemed not funny enough. They wanted Ramon and they wanted him with a Spanish accent.

For his refusal, Hoch was made to feel like a trivializing, sanctimonious prig and a major problem to boot. If slightly self-righteous, the piece was an effective portrait of the young artist struggling to define his standards amid the confusing lure of fame.

Hoch’s last piece, about a young man wearing leg braces who tries to get a date with an uninterested woman, was beautifully written and performed.

Hoch inhabits his characters and their cultures so fully it’s often confusing as to just who Hoch actually is.

John Kelly also kept the audience guessing. His unusual counter-tenor and his movements often appear authentically female. Watching him, it’s possible to get lost in a world that is gender-less yet still sexual. He sang “Nana’s Song” (by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht) while acting the part of a young prostitute at work, a scene both comic and sad. With the face of a silent film star and the body of a dancer, John Kelly also keeps you guessing as to whether he’s singing the songs straight or winking at them throughout.

Currently making its way across the country, “Field Trips” offers a neat little package of the current state of performance art in all of its anger, pretension, ambiguity, and beauty.