We saw The Civilians’ Nobody’s Lunch last Thursday, and I’ve been remiss in not writing it about it sooner.

A play at the place where Andy works, recommended by both Choire and me? How could you miss it? Besides, for the visual arts readers of this blog, the cast includes Alix Lambert.

I mentioned it earlier, but that was before we had seen it.

I think it is still more of a work in progress than Gone Missing, but that isn’t really a complaint for a work from a group like The Civilians. Heck, I saw Wooster Group’s “To you, the birdie” three times in various stages of completion.

The theme of Nobody’s Lunch is epistemology — how do we know what we know? The stories range from what we get when the cast cold-called every Jessica Lynch in a phone book anywhere in America, to the… spirit channeled by one of Damian Baldet’s characters who says alien creatures feed on our fear and love the world America has created. In a strong cast, he really stands out with a brilliant performance in the piece.

There is plenty of humor in the work, but there are also moments that made me pretty emotional. Christina Kirk’s character that tells us of her childhood experience in a cult is chilling. KJ Sanchez gives us part of an interview with her 73-year-old mother, and when it’s followed by Baron Vaughn singing “I want to die for something”, I will admit James and I got a bit teary.

In addition to a brilliant cast, Michael Friedman’s songs really stand out. I don’t have to tell anyone who knows me that I hate conventional musicals, but there are ones like Hedwig or Urinetown that I do like. Generally, they are ones with clever music that sounds as if it’s aware of what’s happpened since 1940 in music, and that has some political content. Michael’s lyrics are very smart, and when he pulls a line into a song that you heard a character speak earlier in the evening, it adds additional depth. He writes in a number of styles, and one of my favorites in this one is the Song of Progressive Disenchantment, performed by Caitlin Miller. As you might guess, it’s in the style of a Brecht/Weill song, such as Surabaya Johnny. It’s also hilarious.

I have information on discount tickets to see it:

Special 2-for-1 tickets to NOBODY’S LUNCH available until 10/14 (10/7 and
10/10 excluded). Special price available ONLY through PS 122 box office:
212.477.5288. Offer subject to availability.

Use code: LUNCHFOR2

That Gone Missing link above is a post of mine that includes some MP3s of earlier songs by Michael.

Champion Fine Art is now in Los Angeles, Culver City to be precise. Their first show, curated by Matt Johnson, opens October 29.

They both close Saturday, so get on over there. Yancey Richardson is on 22nd Street in Chelsea.

Mitch Epstein’s show, titled Family Business, documents the collapse of his father’s furniture and real estate business in Holyoke, Massachusetts. It also becomes a document of the collapse of small businesses and old city downtowns. A number of the images would be moving without the background story, but they’re devastating as soon as you know it.

Flag, 2000, 30 × 40 inches, Chromogenic Print

Warehouse, 2000, 50 × 60 inches, Chromogenic Print

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Appropriately, the other show is Oraien Catledge’s Cabbagetown, with images from his book of the same name. Catledge photgraphed the people of Cabbagetown, a small, impoverished milltown not far from downtown Atlanta. The images are from the 80s, but look like WPA photographs of sharecroppers during the Depression.

[images from the gallery’s web site]

I said I was going to write about a new young artist at Schroeder Romero, but James beat me to it.