Clark and I Somewhere in Connecticut

Rumble Productions and Theatre Replacement’s Clark and I Somewhere in Connecticut was not only part of the PuSh Festival but also one of the events for the Vancouver Memory Festival, in which Geist is a participant, and I attended the Saturday matinee with nine fellow Geisters. James Long’s essentially one-man show is thoughtfully and emotionally engaging, and immensely inventive. He uses three catalysts—a found suitcase full of photo albums, the same story retold by different people, and research for a play about a Japanese cannibal named Issei Sagawa—to explore questions of memory: how does memory work, what is the relationship between what was lived and what is remembered, and what is the value of mementos such as photos, for whom are they valuable? (At one point, Long’s character asks an audience member point blank, would you throw this away?) Long performs in a bunny suit, uses the suitcase as the only stage prop, and complements his performance with two projection screens, which intermittently show the photos, video projections of the storytellers, and celebrity stills of Issei, for an effect that is wistful, disturbing and surprisingly fun.