The final season of the three-year U.S./Netherlands Touring & Exchange Project at the Theatre Project has begun with a stunningly performed but often cryptic dance-theater work called "Nobody's Neighbor," by the Onafhankelijk Toneel company of Rotterdam.
Thanks to a program note, the audience knows beforehand that the piece is about five people who have fled their native countries "for personal, political or economic reasons." They now occupy a kind of no man's land waiting area where they struggle to construct new identities.
The snippets of dialogue -- in English -- reinforce this context, though I'm not sure how clear it would be without the program note. Gabrielle Uetz, who plays a timid-seeming character, speaks of being "in a state of suspension." Severe-looking Amy Gale recounts a repeated dream in which she's about to miss a train, plane or boat. Fabian Galama, who frequently scribbles in a notebook, says, "Here I have no past, so I will write one."
The first half of the 75-minute work -- choreographed by Ton Lutgerink, who also co-directed it with Mirjam Koen -- provides glimpses into the characters' pasts. Though they appear to come from different countries, they all seem to have been victims of terrorism, or at least violence, of one sort or another.
In one of the most graphic instances, Caroline Dokter -- who initially exhibits a defiant attitude -- blindfolds herself, lies on the floor and is subjected to mimed rape by three cast members while Jorge Filio is forced to watch, with his hands tied behind his back. In another case, Filio and Galama repeatedly try to drag Uetz away while she lists various people who've died "with nobody knowing their dreams."
The most touching moment comes when Uetz shows the others a snapshot of a baby, and they surround her holding snapshots of their own loved ones, all presumably dead. It's a quietly heart-rending example of something these seemingly dissimilar refugees have in common.
The second half of the evening, performed to Gyorgy Ligeti's String Quartet No. 1 (the first half includes music by Anton Webern and Michael Nyman), is pure dance, devoid of dialogue. By this time, the performers all have changed at least part of their clothing, apparently symbolizing the start of their new lives.
At first, they leap coltishly, as if boldly experimenting, and their adroit movement frequently includes synchronized steps. But the friction that often surfaced in the first half is far from diffused. Though the men may stroll arm in arm, their fists are clenched. And in one brief episode, Dokter pulls Filio up off the floor by his teeth -- or is he biting her hand?
In its "Statement of artistic goals," Onafhankelijk Toneel (the name means "Independent Theater") states: ". . . there has never been the intention to express a clear-cut message or interpretation." Certainly, much is left open to interpretation in "Nobody's Neighbor." But the piece as a whole, and especially the ending, is permeated with a sense of sadness. This is made all the more poignant by the realization that any confusion the audience feels is only a slight approximation of that felt by countless refugees who share the "no man's land" status of the characters on stage.
"Nobody's Neighbor"
Where: Theatre Project, 45 W. Preston St.
When: 8 p.m. today and tomorrow; 3 p.m. Sunday
Tickets: $14
Call: (410) 752-8558
** 1/2