Tuesday July 5, 2011 - As evening fell over Lincoln Center Plaza, the huge screen on the facade of the State Theatre flickered to life with the first of a series of films by David Michalek entitled PORTRAITS IN DRAMATIC TIME. Following his 2007 masterpiece SLOW DANCING, David uses the same technique - filmed vignettes lasting a few seconds projected in super-slow motion - but turns to actors of stage and film as his subjects.
Alan Rickman's segment was particularly brilliant as he brewed a cup of tea, then went into a snit and swept his teacup aside with the liquid flying out. Then he up-ended the table. In reality this little mad scene would have lasted a few seconds; on film we get to savour every nuance of this great actor's flaring temper.
Not every face on the screen was familiar to me, since I am not really a theatre-goer. But aside from Alan Rickman, William H Macy, Lili Taylor (with her two small children) and Ruth Maleczech were vividly displayed. In ensemble scenes, small dramas were acted out with facial expressions intensified by the slow speed; a group of actors who appeared to be sipping cocktails ended up emptying their glasses onto themselves and dropping the stemware in slow descents to the floor.
As the blue hour turned inky black and the quarter moon hovered, Monica, Rob, Kokyat and I found our quiet spot being invaded by hordes of young people leaving Midsummer Night's Swing over at the Damrosch Shell. Things turned noisy and our view was continually impaired. We decided to come back another night to see more of David's films.
PORTRAITS IN DRAMATIC TIME will play every evening at Lincoln Center thru the end of July. The showings start around 8:45 PM. It's a unique experience, so be sure to stop by. If you're lucky (as we were) maybe you'll get a glimpse of David's wife Wendy Whelan watching the big screen.
