EGN NEWS DESK
For a present that has its viewers in stitches, “Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha” shouldn’t be with out solemnity. On a latest night, its sole performer, Julia Masli, known as a spectator “the image of evil.” Another was “a logo of the futility of mankind.” No matter: The crowd was doubled over from starting to finish. Was it the Estonia-born Masli’s strongly accented English? Her tone, which ranged from deceptively clean to deceptively candy?
To be truthful, these remarks landed within the basic context of Masli making an attempt to assist individuals. In her breakthrough present, a success final 12 months at Edinburgh Fringe and now working at SoHo Playhouse in Manhattan, she goes as much as viewers members and easily asks, “Problem?” Then she proceeds to supply an answer.
Early within the night, somebody simply as merely answered, “Sleep.” So Masli took him onstage, gave him an eye fixed masks and had him lie down on a chaise longue, the place he stayed for the rest of the present. Another man revealed relationship frustrations: “Gay males are unbearable,” he stated. Masli appeared confounded, or a minimum of acted that approach, and replied, “I don’t know what to say.” Twice she made us hug our neighbors.
Moving up and down a single aisle with a discernible deliberateness, Masli projected a persona that was midway between curious little one and ingenuous alien simply landed on Earth — that she is amongst us however not like us is strengthened by her having a golden model leg for a left arm, with a mic connected on the finish. Her otherworldliness is underlined by the work of the sound designer Alessio Festuccia and the sound tech Jonny Woolley, which creates an eerie temper that may flip discordant unexpectedly, and peaks in a implausible coup de remix that shouldn’t be spoiled.
Masli needs to be of help, however her facade of naïveté leaves loads of room for impishness. She is clown, comic and trickster, revealing individuals to themselves and others, but in addition making them do her bidding. That final feat is kind of spectacular: The theatergoers might consider themselves as sport for something, however a extra cynical observer may additionally marvel on the diploma of obedience, and muse, “So that’s how cults are born.”
That darkish undercurrent permeates the present, which Masli directed with the efficiency artist Kim Noble. It’s usually poignant, generally grim, with tales of loneliness and estrangement repeatedly arising on the efficiency I attended — individuals are requested about their issues, in spite of everything, not about their hobbies or achievements.
This theme and Masli’s Expressionist stage presence make “Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha” really feel like comedy filtered by way of a European custom of absurdist clowning that’s not usually skilled stateside, save for productions of “Waiting for Godot,” for instance, or the family-friendly and sneakily melancholy “Slava’s Snowshow.” Yet Masli solely dips a toe in these murky existential depths, earlier than retreating into audience-friendly whimsy. Of course, it’s laborious to complain {that a} present is simply too good, however on this case it’s equally laborious to shake the nagging feeling that “Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha” could possibly be a lot extra.
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
Through June 8 at SoHo Playhouse, Manhattan; sohoplayhouse.com. Running time: 1 hour 5 minutes.
