Last Man Standing at Chapter Arts.
November 14th. 2002.It is five years since I last saw Good Cop Bad Cop and it seems they have been doing working hard. While I enjoyed their high octane Beefcake for it’s daring this latest work – Last Man Standing is in a different league.
It is a fearless production that could be irritating in lesser hands but the cultivated fury and precision of the company have us on the edge of our seats for the entire night. You have the feeling these performers are living on borrowed time.
The action is a triangle of tension reminiscent of a crazed game show except this game show is in ice. Yes, you heard right – IN ice not on it.
As the taut monologue of The Subject surges forward a Documenter orbits the figure obsessively capturing and projecting images creating a delirious disturbance.
It is only as we have adjusted to this cross focus of speaker and photographer that we become aware the source of the words are coming from inside an opaque box. A box of ice which is slowly melting. The author was always there, just hidden.
Our belief in the conviction of the speaker is thrown into chaos. It is an electric moment and as he continues to talk we doubt what we can see before our eyes.
It is hard to describe the final events without giving away the startling punch line so you will have to see it for yourself.
In years to come people will ask if you saw Last Man Standing. There are only two nights left for you to be one of them.
Milly Max. Arts Correspondent for Out There Magazine.
good cop bad cop 