"'My Onliness' is the kind of show that in its muchness may leave you slightly mystified."
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"It takes careful planning to pull off such madness and not have it devolve into masturbatory romper room nonsense, and Irizarry has succeeded with a production that is by no means polished, but is unfailingly entertaining."
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"My Onliness," Robert Lyons’ latest stage work, is a musical homage to Polish avant-garde playwright Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (active 1918-1934) but who resurfaced during the 1960’s when his works began to be published and translated. Directed by Daniel Irizarry who also plays the leading role as the Mad King, "My Onliness" with lyrics by Lyons and original music by Kamala Sankaram, resembles the anarchic East Village plays and happenings of the 1960’s. It is part of a through line from Alfred Jarry’s "Ubu Roi" (1896) to Eugene Ionesco’s "Exit the King" (1962). A political fable for adults, "My Onliness" is performed as a cabaret and circus entertainment with exaggerated costumes, outrageous stage business, and audience participation. While the often obscure text is for the adventurous, it does touch on many hot current issues.
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"While I'm still parsing its intended meaning (if any), all I know for certain about this thoroughly absurd show is that I thoroughly enjoyed it."
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“My Onliness” is billed as “a fable/cabaret/circus entertainment about a mad king’s desperate attempt to impress a mysterious petitioner” – a description that doesn’t completely capture the sensory assault and somersaults by the ceaselessly energetic cast, or the aggressive (albeit voluntary) audience participation, or the sheer busy-ness of this boisterous anarchic diversion. If (to put it constructively) you need to be in the right mood to find the fun in all of the show’s loud, chaotic 80 minutes, “My Onliness” does display some real inventiveness, and even hints at a seriousness of purpose.
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"Judging from all of the madness in 'My Onliness', it’s clear that the artists of One-Eighth Theater are keeping the tradition of colorful experimentation alive in New York’s downtown theater scene."
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