Last night, I saw Prospect Theater Company's production of Tamar of the River for the third time. Honestly, I kept liking it more and more each time I saw it.
The lyrics by Joshua H. Cohen are subtle, but the more I listened to them, the more I liked them. One of the things I noticed this time around is that after Tamar accepts Er, his stuttering stops. Having him go from inarticulate to eloquent is really wonderful.
The voice of the River speaks in many voices, many languages, and sometimes just in sonorous sounds. Those sounds, whether we understand them or not (frequently we are not meant to) fit together perfectly with the music by Marisa Michelson.
There are also a number of wonderful bits of humor, such when the River speaks to Tamar, and she answers simply, "Me?" Oddly enough, the audience did not laugh at these parts as they had on the previous times I saw the piece. Still, based on the smiles on the audience's faces, they clearly enjoyed the show.
