Telluride Inside… and Out: Bowers in "Beyond Words" at NYC's Urban Stages
On our recent visit to New York, Telluride Inside… and Out was privileged to attend a performance by Bill Bowers. Poignant self-observation, biting social satire and screwball comedy meet in his latest one-man show, "Beyond Words." The sound of silence is symphonic when this uniquely gifted mime is charged with playing all the instruments. The big small production continues through October 31 at Frances Hill Barlow's Urban Stages, 259 West 30 (between 7th and 8th Avenues).
Bowers is not your typical mime in the tradition of Marcel Marceau, Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton to whom he is often favorably and justifiably compared. For one thing, he talks. Like a chatter box on uppers. However, as was the case with his illustrious antecedents, Bowers is capable of delivering universal themes like candy, not cod's liver oil. "Beyond Words", a collection of mime, music and monologues, may be one of the funniest plays you've ever seen and a pleasure to watch for its spare elegance. (Here I am talking about Bowers' performance as well as the production values – sets, lighting,costumes, sound – orchestrated by the talented young director Scott Illingworth, a faculty member at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Acting Program.)