In the program for “Solitary Light,” one of the four shows in this year’s Theater: Village Festival, there is a paragraph that describes the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which occurred on March 25, 1911 “a few blocks from this theatre,” resulting in the death of 146 garment workers. “Locked in to prevent theft and union discussion many were forced to jump from windows on the ninth floor.”
It is useful to have this in the program because, other than a sign that the cast holds up at one point that says “Triangle Shirtwaist Factory,” it might be difficult for the casual theatergoer to figure out that’s what the show at the Axis Theatre Company is about.
“Solitary Light” is an hour-long musical with no dialogue and no conventional scenes. A cast of nine sings some two dozen songs, mostly in unison; only occasionally can any of the performers be discerned as individual characters.
The songs themselves, by Axis artistic director Randy Sharp and Paul Carbonara (guitarist for 13 years for the band Blondie), are lovely and lilting. They are backed by a pleasing four-piece band of guitar (Carbonara), piano, violin and cello. The staging is atmospheric; David Zeffren’s lighting design is so dark that I wondered for a moment whether it inspired the title of the show. In place of any sets, the cast holds up various handmade signs (“The Park,” The Street,”), which is fine – they suggest a time of ubiquitous picket signs, and in any case Karl Ruckdeschel’s costumes make clear what era we are in.
For a sense that a story is being told, one must listen carefully to the lyrics, which vaguely focus on Frank and Louise, a couple of immigrant factory workers in love, but often broaden into more general glimpses of the times –  and are also threaded with some apparent poetic symbolism…about cameras and fireflies and beautiful women.  A few songs are put in the mouths of individual characters —