Main Street Theater is currently putting on Ouroboros, a difficult play by Tom Jacobson that centers on two couples who continue to run across each other in different cities in Italy. The catch is that time is moving forward for one couple, and moving backward for the other couple. Throw in the fact that the play can be performed in one of two directions, and you have a real challenge for director, actors, and audience alike.
The play, directed by Robert de los Reyes, has gotten solid reviews from both the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Press, but the reviews themselves are interesting because of the difference in quality. The Press review literally blows the Chronicle review away.
Here is a representative excerpt from the Chronicle review by Everett Evans:
MST is alternating the two versions, but it’s not necessary to attend both. The material is the same in both, though the order of the scenes is reversed.
If this sounds confusing, it often is. Beyond the “time trap” premise, Jacobson mixes Twilight Zone fantasy, travel adventure, Will & Grace-style banter (in mischievous Tors’ flip humor) and earnest exploration of faith, myth and miracles. Plus (inevitably) lots of jokes on whether Catholics, Lutherans or Jews inflict the heaviest guilt trips. If the mixture sometimes feels uneasy, certain lines strained, certain situations contrived — well, is it any wonder?
Yet the play usually remains intriguing. Give Jacobson credit for trying something different, keeping things unpredictable. This may be the first “Americans in Italy” tale in which not a single character falls madly in love with a gorgeous Italian.
[snip]
Director Robert de los Reyes has his hands full with all this and acquits himself resourcefully. It’s tough to establish a secure tone in a play encompassing everything from hymn-singing to risqu
