"A Day In Dig Nation" by Flying Carpet Theatre at PS122 on August 14th in NY, NY

I find myself constantly attracted to and repelled by PS122. On the one hand, if you want to see something experimental, it's the first place one thinks to go. On the other hand, there's a damn good chance it's gonna suck. God knows, I've had my share of disappointment there. One puts up with all of the losses in hopes of seeing a great show every now and then. And that prince of a show makes up for all the frogs. Such is the name of the game.

"A Day In Dig Nation" is a one man show featuring Michael McQuilken. It opens with his parents arguing over what to name him. His mother insists on naming him Rex and his father insists that Rex is a dog's name. The father puts up a good and exasperatedly funny fight but is eventually beaten down by his mother. Each parent is just a voice coming from either end of the stage and poor baby Rex is just a pair of exaggerated and expressive eyes that moves from side to side, afraid and following the parent who is talking. It's a funny and entertaining start to the show.

Part of the joy of the show is McQuilken, who is good at comedy, drama, singing, and even tap dancing. Witnessing the opening, one fears he might be an actor with a schtick but I was pleasantly surprised by his range. Rex is a character who is emotionally cut off from the world. At one point he acts as someone's personal hero and when she tries to thank him, he shrinks from her attention, finding it impossible to believe that someone wants nothing else but to thank him. He's deathly afraid of her. Their conversation is the weightiest moment of the show and McQuiken handles it very well. He's more than a one trick pony.

The story itself chronicles Rex's exile from human emotion. He's surrounded by and in a way enveloped by technology. Instead of a set, the production has video projections that serve as the set. In one of the scenes, a man is trapped in a hiding place in a post apocalyptic world. He hears the calls of a woman who is desperately searching for another survivor of whatever catastrophe has caused the world's ruin. He can't bring himself to communicate with this woman and thus loses her, listening as she finds another male survivor and connects with him. This man might be a character from one of Rex's video games but it's also Rex. Thus, when the woman Rex has saved from drowning comes to thank him, one fears that Rex will not be able to talk with her.

This production was a mixture of hi tech sound and video, a solid, script, and good acting. It's a modest production, not slick at all. Yet, it's a winning combination and enough to get me to PS122 the next time I'm in New York.