Randy Granger

 

Review by Mike Cook Las Cruces Bulletin There’s an old Zen saying,

“If you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha.”

There’s a new Mike saying: “If you get a chance to see ‘Killing Buddha,’ take it.”

The first one doesn’t mean at all what it says, as you learn in this play. The second one is utterly sincere – just think of the laughing Buddha himself giving two enthusiastic thumbs up. “Killing Buddha,” which concludes its run this weekend at The Black Box Theatre on the downtown mall, continues the journey of the two characters recently introduced to Las Cruces audiences in “An Iliad.”

Algernon D’Ammassa, who wrote the script, is the storyteller; Randy Granger, who wrote the music, is the instrumentalist. They are a bit of Vladimir and Estragon, a dash of Penn and Teller, a pinch of Thelma and Louise. Vagabonds and travelers, worn but not weary, they have alighted briefly from their journey to share a story based on “a very old Buddhist fable about the Buddha’s encounter with a murderer who wants to atone,” D’Ammassa said in a recent interview.

D’Ammassa is the form, gliding about the stage with a water bottle, a broom handle, a scarf and a few other props to bring to life the two Buddhas, the king, the widow and other characters.

Granger is his shadow, giving color and flavor to the story with a cigar-box guitar, a double flute, bowls, bottles and many other wind and percussion instruments – and silence. Separately and together, they weave a rich tapestry that is wonder and magic for the eye, the ear and the heart.

When she welcomed the audience and introduced the play, theatre owner Ceil Herman said the show would run for about an hour and 20 minutes, without an intermission. I didn’t think about time again until the stage went dark and D’Ammassa and Granger took their bows.

These are two very gifted performers whose collective gift to the audience is a step out of time and away from the world. For nearly 90 minutes, there is no Trump, no Bernie, no Hillary; there is no ISIS, no Putin, no Kim Jongun.

There is only the soft music, the sweet voice and the timeless tale. D’Ammassa “is a theatrical actor who has also appeared on film and television,” according to www.no-strings. org. “He trained professionally at the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island and has traveled all over the United States and Europe as a performer and teacher.” He has acted and directed frequently at the Black Box and Las Cruces Community Theatre. D’Ammassa teaches at the Creative Media Institute at New Mexico State University.

Granger “is a native New Mexican of indigenous ancestry,” according to the website. “He is a master of various instruments, combining Native American flute with musical traditions encompassing rock, jazz, mariachi, and more. Based in Las Cruces, he tours the U.S. as a solo musician and teacher.”

The final performances of “Killing Buddha” will be at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19, and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21. You can see the show’s “prequel,” “An Iliad,” at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. If you can’t make it to both shows, no worries. You don’t have to see one to enjoy or understand the other.

Review of our award-winning play Killing Buddha. We earned Pick of the Festival at the 2015 Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival. www.randygranger.net for performances info.

Admission is $12 for adults and $10 for senior citizen ages 65 and over and for students. For reservations, call the Black Box Theatre at 523-1223 or visit www. no-strings.org. The theatre is located at the north end of the downtown mall, at 430 N. Main St.

For more information www.randygranger.net

http://lascrucesbulletin.nm.newsmemory.com/?selDate=20160219&goTo=B002
https://www.facebook.com/theatredojous/videos/470010879854401/

 https://www.facebook.com/theatredojous/videos/470010879854401/

 

Actor/writer/director Algernon
D’Ammassa and writer/
musician Randy Granger
perform their first original
collaborative work “Killing
Buddha,” the spiritual “sequel”
to “An Iliad,” at the
Black Box Theatre during its
local debut. “Killing Buddha”
has two performances
left, on Friday, Feb 21.