There’s magic in all theatre, but usually it’s invisible magic, transforming actors into characters and stages into rooms and landscapes. But the magic of “Elephant Room” at Arena Stage is not that kind of subtle sleight-of-hand. It’s big, old fashioned, in-your-face magic, where the magician looks you straight in the eye and demands to know if you believe he can hoodwink you. At the same time it’s an utterly new, goofy kind of magic, where the magicians are funny and the tricks are incorporated into an absurd theatrical act.
On the small stage of the Kogod Theatre, “Elephant Room” is performed by three magicians who at first glance would seem to have no more in common than the fact that they all have moustaches.
| Where: Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St., S.W. |
| When: Through February 26 |
| Info: $40; 202-488-3300; arenastage.org |
Dennis Diamond is tall, has a pixie hair cut and comes on like a lounge singer in his white jacket with red lapels and his white patent leather shoes. Louie Magic, dressed in shorts and a black satin jacket, has a mop of curly dark hair and a maniacal grin. The lanky Daryl Hannah has shoulder-length blond hair, cowboy boots and a desire to talk about his private life.
There is, of course, some excellent traditional magic in “Elephant Room.” There are unbelievable card tricks and rope tricks and of course a woman gets sawed in half. But the real appeal of “Elephant Room” is found in its untraditional elements and in the way those three very different magicians work together as a team. You may have seen a magician conjure an egg out of thin air. But have you ever seen three magicians draw three eggs out of thin air and then play a shell game with them, so that only one magician at a time has the egg?
It would be a shame to ruin one major magic trick of “Elephant Room” for those who have not seen it yet by revealing what happens next to those eggs. Suffice it to say that it is utterly incredible.
Mimi Lien’s set is a room full of 1950s furniture, set three feet above the Kogod Theatre stage on cinder blocks, making it seem a little like the stage a travelling theatre might use. The sound design, by Nick Kourtides, is in part recorded, in large part sung by the magicians. The lighting design, by Christopher Kuhl, contributes to the show’s mystery.
“Elephant Room” is craftily directed by Paul Lazar, who keeps the magic coming fast and furiously. It is written by Steve Cuiffo, Trey Lyford and Geoff Sobelle, who use everything from popular music to Tai Chi to the Dalai Lama to create a seamless show, full of the most impressive illusions.
