The Wind Telephone

Rating: Review

Company: Audacious Serendipity

Genre: Storytelling

Venue: 9 Eckhardt-Gramatte Hall

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The 2011 tsunami and earthquake in Japan left more than19,000 people deadand the country was thrown into deep mourning. To deal with his loss, Itaru Sasaki set up a phone booth to communicate with the dead. The phone is not connected but Itaru affirms that messages are delivered by the wind. Thousands of mourners travel across the country to use the Wind Phone.

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Interspersed with reenactments of Japanese mourners reaching out to their lost relatives, Adam Keefe delivers a monologue exploring a colleague's suicide, his mother's heart attack, a religious survey of Japanese culture, and a general indictment of the disconnectedness of the modern world, in this one hour, one-man show.

Keefe is a talented wordsmith and a strong performer, but his reach far exceeds his grasp inThe Wind Telephone. It is difficult to connect emotionally with the performance because it branches off thematically inso many different directions.

Keefe's reach far exceeds his grasp inThe Wind Telephone.- Michelle Palansky

Trying to weave too many strands simultaneously, the audience is left with an intractable knot.