Jack E. Chambers, Laura Kinard

With the production of The Baltimore Waltz in the Bongo After Hours space, AthensSouth Theatre is helping to fill the alternative-theater void left when Darkhorse Theater deep-sixed its regular season a couple years back.

Paula Vogel's drama is that rare piece, an AIDS-themed show which is in large part a comedy. It is a minimalist show with three actors and virtually no set, perfect for the small second-floor space at Bongo.

What makes the piece so comical?and grimly ironic?is the satirical spin put on AIDS. Vogel, whose brother died of AIDS in 1988, presents the scenario of the semi-autobiographical play as the trip to Europe that Vogel and her brother never took.

On the (imagined) trip, though, it is the woman, a schoolteacher, who is living with Acquired Toilet Syndrome, with her brother frantically searching for a miracle cure.

Director Lane Wright's cast includes Laura Kinard as Anna, Jack E. Chambers as Carl, and Daryl W. Phillipy as several different characters. Phillipy, in particular, handles the task of changing accents (as well as costumes and body language) particularly well. There is an underlying sadness to the performances of Chambers and Kinard, a lingering, disconnected sadness which makes watching the play a somewhat uncomfortable experience.

Art, however, is meant to provoke, and not always to comfort.The Baltimore Waltz does pack a lot into 90 minutes, and AthensSouth is to be commended for bringing this kind of play to the Nashville theater scene.

?Shelton Clark

more performing arts | related events

Photo: Martin E. O'Connor