Last night, I caught Alex Aguirre's underwater workplace comedy Sub, about coworkers in a dystopian future selling arms to private militia groups from a submarine on a mostly submerged planet earth.
Mitchell Polonsky directed the piece at Erf Gallery, which is in an off-the-beaten-path part of Bushwick. The audience sits on both sides of a long, narrow set, designed by Owen Versteeg to evoke a futuristic submarine.
At one end of the set is a rack of the latest post-apocalyptic fashions designed by nepo baby Freya, played wonderfully by Addie Guidry. At the other end is a steel drum containing weapons manufacturer Peter, played by the magnificent Nick Walther.
We learn the reason Peter is in the drum is that he had both his legs cut off by Freya's father, a nasty powerbroker on which they both must rely. He consoles himself by popping pills and swilling an insane amount of liquor, but the audience later finds out that these are merely placebos.
For her part, Freya has to contend both with her daddy issues and her powerful frenemy, Chloë Chimera, played eerily by Chloe Claudel with the aid of a microphone that electronically alters her voice. Chloë claims to be "post-human" and freed from the conventional morals of an obsolete humanity. The character reminded me quite a bit of some of the post-human imaginings of Bernard Shaw in Back to Methuselah and Farfetched Fables.
Other than Freya and Peter, the only other employee on the sub is Arnold, a splendidly clad but ineffectual security officer played by Jonah O'Hara David. The crew does receive periodic visits from Chloë's husband, a fellow warlord named Barnaby Miller who apes the film noir villains of the past. (Just don't call it his "bit" if you want to live long!) Santiago Mallan is both comic and menacing as Barnaby, who inhabits his retro persona out of a terror of having to deal with the world in which he actually lives.
Chloë has no such difficulties, having fully embraced a world in which human emotions can only prove weaknesses. Having adapted her body to the technology that alters her voice, she's already on her way to becoming a computer, like the one that steers and protects the sub. ("Emily" voiced by Wendy McColm.) All of the cast members are imaginatively costumed by designer Olivia Vaughn Heren, though Chloë's outfits are the most impressive and least human looking.
Ultimately, though, the play is about humanity, and Freya and Peter share an oddly touching moment at the end that reminds us how in dark times hope can be one of the most subversive elements to remain in the bitter remnants of a failed society.
The show is running this weekend only, so see it while you can!
