Anti-matter also matters

2001: A Space Odyssey (or David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”) versus María Elena Walsh’s ‘El Reino del Revés’ – Boy From Antimatter is a two-act multi-media musical (all in English) for both children and adults, based on the book by Cliff Williamson, an Illinois-born businessman with strong dilettante artistic inclinations who has spent most of the past half-century in this country.

If “the past is a foreign country; they do things differently there” in the words of L.P. Hartley, much the same can be said about outer space – in the Antimatter Dimension most things are opposite to here while gender roles are reversed with women in business suits running companies, media and government, leaving the men to take care of the household and family. Ideas are the means of exchange rather than any currency.

E-Bob is a teenager living in the Antimatter Dimension on the opposite side of the universe with the special mental powers of all its inhabitants. But since E-Bob is incapable of appreciating his own effortless superiority or the privileges of his family and world, his parents decide to send him to the “Other Side of the Universe” for an extended visit, exchanging places with Bobby, his counterpart in our world.

Whether or not in homage to Vaca Muerta shale, E-Bob’s family is surnamed Neuquen – perhaps Williamson just likes palindromes.  Apart from his family (Mom, Dad and his sister Lil), the cast features in the school in this world a wild cowgirl schoolteacher named Mrs. Knits and Brutus Thugly, the class bully.

To cross the universe, E-Bob must traverse Gate Number 707, passing through a black hole accompanied only by his singing dog, Krab. Once on the other side of the universe, E-Bob has to struggle with a strange (only to him) culture, learning some important lessons of his own.

The play is produced, directed and scripted by Cliff Williamson (with his daughter Kelly serving as co-director), as well as penning the lyrics along with Jennifer Griffith, a composer and jazz pianist. The latter arranged and fine-tuned the music with nine original songs composed by various artists, including Lonnie McCrory and Alejandro Caputo.

Open to the public, the show will be performed on Thursday, April 23 (show at 6.30pm), Friday, April 24 (show at 7.30pm) and Saturday, April 25 (show at 7.30 pm) at the Lincoln Theater at the American International School of Buenos Airesm aka Lincoln School (home ground for Williamson, who taught there between 1979 and 1981 while his children Kelly and Tyler both completed secondary school there).

ASOCIACIÓN ESCUELAS LINCOLN. Andrés Ferreyra 4073. B1637AOS La Lucila. The standard ticket price is 10,000 pesos with 20 percent discounts for teachers and students. Tickets can be purchased at the door or pre-purchased at the school or using a QR code.

Suburban Players take you to The Crucible

The Suburban Players will be presenting The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s play set in 17th-century Salem, an exploration of how a community unravels when suspicion replaces reason widely seen as a repudiation of the then contemporary McCarthyism, directed by Simon Chater. The play will be performed at the British Arts Centre (Suipacha 1333) on April 9, 10 and 11 and at the Playhouse, Moreno 80, San Isidro on April 18, 24-26 and 30 and May 1 and 2. For tickets and other information contact the Suburban Players at info@thesuburbanplayers.com and www.thesuburbanplayers.com (with a special discount for members).

– MS