At first, “Shimmer and Herringbone,” the third and final absurdist play in the avant-garde theater company Talking Band’s fiftieth anniversary season, promises to riff on shopping for clothes. The play, after all, was commissioned to showcase Olivera Gajic’s costumes; and its title is the name of the clothing store where one of the seven characters works and the other six all visit. We first see each of them trying on clothes – first at their homes in a series of videos, then at the store, where the four screens for the videos turn into the doors to the four dressing rooms.
But then, the riffs turn out to be much more than just about clothes; they’re more random than that – on literature, music, pigeons.
Then you might think the play is really about random encounters. But you eventually realize that the characters’ lives are all intertwined, although it would require careful study and a flowchart to work out just how they once knew one another, and how their relationships change over the course of the play.
By the end, “Shimmer and Herringbone” comes more into focus, tied together in part by a terrific string trio playing original music.
But its 24 scenes (in under 90 minutes) offer random wit, wisdom and color rather than a completely coherent play.
To pick some memorable examples, at random.
A literary observation: Rhonda, the store clerk (portrayed Ellen Maddow, who co-wrote the play and composed the music): “I love Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, but all I remember is rain, ageless women, and parrots. Maybe that’s enough.”
An exchange about pigeons:
Melanie, a former movie actress now in her eighties (Tina Shepard): “Pigeons ? I hate ‘em. All they do is coo and poo and screw.
Lilly, an ornithologist obsessed with pigeons (Lizzie Olesker): “Their compact bodies, their fierce eyes, their iridescent necks. They are like little works of art.”
A thought about music (one that I myself have had):
Gus (portrayed by James Tigger! Ferguson): “Isn’t it amazing that there is so much different music when there are so few notes.”
An exchange on fashion:
Colin (a TV star — Dr. Lockheart! from “Urgent Care” — portrayed Jack Wetherall), holding up a colorful shirt. Do you think this is too frivolous?
Rhonda: For what?
Colin: For these times.
Rhonda: You mean, do you have a right to be happy?
There are several examples of what you could call arcs, although lightly (and often illogically) presented. The easiest to follow is that between Lilly and real estate agent Grace (Louise Smith) who supposedly have been best friends since childhood, but Grace keeps on running away from her.
We learn how differently they view one another
Grace: She became a scientist in a white lab coat that crackled with starch. I taught art to three year olds, and the bottom of my blouse was ringed with snot.
Lilly: I focused in on pigeons, while she was a free spirit.
If there is one message most easily extracted from “Shimmer and Herringbone,” it’s that, as people grow and age, they don’t just change what they look like; they change what they look for.
Shimmer and Herringbone
Talking Band at Mabou Mines through May 19
Running time: 90 minutes no intermission
Tickets: $35. Student/senior: $30
Written by Ellen Maddow and Paul Zimet
Costumes by Olivera Gajic
Music by Ellen Maddow
Directed by Paul Zimet
Sets and projections by Anna Kiraly
Lighting by Mary Ellen Stebbins
Choreography by Sean Donovan
Cast: Ebony Davis as Bree,James Tigger Ferguson as Gus,Ellen Maddow as Rhonda,Lizzie Olesker as Lilly,Tina Shepard as Melanie,Louise Smith as Grace, and Jack Wetherall as Colin.
String Trio Rachel Feldhaus,Marija Kovacevic,and Agustin Uriburu
