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Buckminster Fuller At American Rep Theatre

Thomas Derrah in Tour De Force Performance

By: - Jan 20, 2011

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R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE
Directed by D.W. Jacobs from the life, work, and writings of R. Buckminster Fuller
Thomas Derrah
as Bucky Fuller
Set and lighting design by David Cuthbert
Costume design by Darla Cash
Projection design by Jim Findlay
Sound/composition by Luis Perez
January 14 through February 5
American Repertory Theatre
The Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle Street, Cambridge,MA 02138

A one person show can be just a monologue, or, as in this case, solo storytelling at its absolute best. This is true of A.R.T.'s R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE by D.W. Jacobs and staring American Rep's veteran and former longtime ensemble player, the multitalented, Thomas Derrah. 

Sometimes a performance is so good that it is hard to discern where the actor stops and the character begins and vice versa. Thomas Derrah as Buckminster Fuller at the A.R.T. is one of these theatrical phenomena. To say that he is superb would be an understatement. This is a tour de force. His performance is at once funny and serious while being intellectually stimulating and hopeful.

I say this with conviction because 37 years ago I saw the real Buckminster Fuller speak in Aspen, Colorado at the International Design Conference. He droned on and on in a monotone. After about 20 minutes, I left to attend two other workshops and he was droning on 5 hours later when I passed by the hall he was speaking at. Thomas Derrah is more interesting and edifying than Old Bucky ever was.

Richard Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) was an American original. He is something of an American icon as well, a true character in the best sense of the definition. To some, he was one of the great thinkers and multitalented geniuses of the 20th Century. He was a writer, philosopher, mathematician, poet, architect, engineer, inventor, visionary, prescient environmentalist and advocate of sustainability and does more with less. He was also obsessive, eccentric and something of a nerd. By wordiness (very Bucky), dance and song (not so Bucky but graceful), Mr. Derrah has channeled all aspects of Fuller and added a sympathetic and at times very human personality to the enormous and often borish real ego.

Fuller was famous and respected for his comprehensive perspective on the solutions to the world's problems. His decades long "career" focused upon developing pioneering solutions through innovative design to create technologies that could do more with less to improve human lives worldwide.

His visionary concept of the future included efficient and simplified housing and transportation modes. This led to his invention of the geodesic dome and its applications as well as the Dymaxion house and car. Bucky also invented words and coined the terms "Spaceship Earth," "epherealization" and "synergetics." This play provides an exposition of his life, systemmatic ideas and his strongly held belief in the capacity of the individual to reinvent himself and his environment.

This production through Thomas Derrah's stunning performance examines Fuller's vision by looking at time, place, history and the universe as a whole. This is underscored by a constant series of interconnected conceptual riffs, personal and often poignant revelatory stories, geometrical and technical discourses and demonstrations illustrated by songs, movement and dance underscored by archival projections, photos, drawings and sketches.

Thomas Derrah has appeared in 118 productions at the A.R.T., including most recently as Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret; as well as Endgame (Clov), The Seagull (Dorn), Julius Caesar (title role), Oliver Twist (also at Theatre for a New Audience and Berkeley Repertory Theatre), The Birthday Party (Stanley), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Nick Bottom), Highway Ulysses (Ulysses), Uncle Vanya (Vanya), Marat/Sade (Marquis de Sade), Richard II (Richard). He was seen on Broadway in Jackie: An American Life (23 roles), and Off-Broadway in Dario Fo’s one-man show Johan Padan and the Discovery of the Americas and Big Time (Ted). He toured with the A.R.T. across the U.S., with residencies in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and throughout Europe, Canada, Israel, Taiwan, Japan and Moscow. 

He has appeared in several local theater companies, including Boston TheatreWorks, New Repertory Theatre, and Commonwealth Shakespeare Company; London’s Battersea Arts Center, Houston’s Alley Theatre, and other theaters throughout the U.S. His awards include the 1994 Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence, 2000 and 2004 IRNE Awards for Best Actor, 1997 Los Angeles DramaLogue Award (for title role of Shlemiel the First). He appeared on television in Julie Taymor’s film Fool’s Fire (PBS American Playhouse), “Unsolved Mysteries,” “Del and Alex” (Alex, A&E Network), and in the films Mystic River and The Pink Panther II. He is on the faculty of the A.R.T. Institute and is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.

D. W. Jacobs is a playwright, director, actor and teacher. He co-founded San Diego Repertory Theatre in 1976 with Sam Woodhouse, where he served as Artistic Director until 1997.  From 1995 to 2000, he wrote R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE, and it had its world premiere at San Diego Rep on March 31, 2000.

The show has played in San Francisco, Chicago, and at Seattle’s Intiman Theatre, performed by Ron Campbell; in Montreal (under the title R. Buckminster Fuller: MÉMOIRES (et Mystères) DE L'UNIVERS, translated by Maryse Pelletier); at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, with Joe Spano playing Bucky, followed by a tour through the Western States. 

As usual at the American Repertory Theatre, the stagecraft is superb with this production. Dazzling multimedia is as much a performer as Mr. Derrah. The set and lighting design by David Cuthbert are at times wonderous. Bucky's costume design by Darla Cash is spot on early 20th Century bank clerk. The elegantly integrated projection design by Jim Findlay is magnificent as is the subtle sound and music composition by Luis Perez. All were choreographed into a visually compelling whole.

This A.R.T. production is a don't miss theatrical event with a simply great individual performance. This is good enough to go to Broadway. Thomas Derrah would star.