JOSEPH IN THE BOX: Hotel Cassiopeia @ BAM

Last night we went to BAM to see Charles L. Mee's Hotel Cassiopeia performed by Anne Bogart's SITI Company, a theatrical piece loosely based on the life of Joseph Cornell. Cornell's box constructions are delicate balancing acts, magical microcosms emerging from mundane objects that delight the viewer.
This work presents Cornell's life in a dreamy, collage-like way that could have used some magic; there is no story line here, just pastiche and impression. The script is more of an act of dramaturgy than playwriting. The set by Neil Patel uses elements familiar to Cornell's boxes: a ladder, a horizontal line upon which rests a golden sphere, the floor and rear wall of the Harvey Theater lined with a romantic, deep blue star map. Brian H. Scott's lighting added to the otherworldliness of the piece, though many of the projects on the rear wall were hard to decipher. The cast of seven featured Barney O'Hanlon as a touchingly sweet Joseph. The remaining six shape-shifted through different characters: from ballerina to Lauren Bacall, from pharmacist to the artist Matta. Though some of the performances were very good, the piece itself never quite gelled for us and we walked away feeling rather cold about the whole thing. We've never felt that way about Joseph Cornell before. Pity.