SEE Magazine
4 1/2 - STARS
By: Karen Howell
The role of a political prisoner is beautifully performed by Portland's Chris Harder, one of the play's co-authors along
with Steve Patterson. Harder exhibits masterful comand of the script, creating subtle changes of mood-from amusement
to horror-in seconds, using tiny poignant gestures and expressions. Portraying different characters who have infuenced
his character, positively or negatively, he forges a strange empathy with those who have shown him brutality; we sympathize
with even the most horrific of perpetrators since he can see how they became damaged. His metamorphosis into a clown is
jarringly effective, transporting us along with him as he attempts to escape into his mind. This is a harrowing thing to
watch, particularly as he plays out the traumatic events that have shaped him, but the antics of the clown restore our mood.
And then he brings us back through his ordeals and flashbacks of memory, taking us intimately with him.
"A mesmerizing and moving, well-written and affecting play- a superb fringe performance."
VUE Weekly
By: Eden Munro
Chris Harder, playing Davey, a man who is incarcerated in both physical and mental prisons, is a powerful
actor who attacks his role here with a vengeance. The layers of Davey's psyche are gradually peeled away as the scenes
alternate between the past, the present and the somewhat disturbing circus clown deep within Davey's mind. Harder's
intensity makes the performance difficult to watch at times as he trolls the murky depths of insanity. Whether it's a
well-placed moment of humour or one of the many squirm-inducing sequences, Harder's performance is utterly riveting.
Edmonton Sun
Sun Rating: 4 Suns (out of 5)
By: Jenny Feniak
Fri, August 25, 2006
Gifted Actor is Enthralling
Political imprisonment and the art of clowning are meticulously combined to create the dark and introspective play The Centering.
This complex, multi-levelled one-man piece is presented by Chris Harder whose main character is Davey, an American. Although
told, "Don't follow," Davey can't help but search for his mentor, an Arab clown. And the worst happens. Kidnapped, hooded,
flown a thousand miles, imprisoned, tortured and interrogated, Davey finds himself in a helpless situation and facing ultimate
death. He shouldn't have searched for the old man, but it's too late now. Without the information his captors are demanding,
Davey escapes into his mind to try and survive his brutal circumstance.
Harder does a fantastic job of morphing between not only a handful of characters, but time periods from his childhood to t
he present. But his most brilliant role is as the Arab clown in his prime and later as a mentor to Davey. "Presto Zucchino!"
The audience is transported into the circus with the sound of the canvas tent in the wind and the odour of sweat, candy floss
and animals. His clowning talents alone are endearing and truly entertaining and this gifted actor enthralls with simple, yet
timeless antics. And in prison, the scenes are disturbing as he struggles mentally with his own predicament, the fate of his
Arab friend and memories of his own life.
Davey's upbringing is explored through his doting mother who does her best to raise him right while being every bit a woman
herself. We also experience Davey's first sexual explorations playing doctor with a young girl from the neighbourhood, who is
revisited as they grow through adolescence. But through it all, Davey returns to the clown, the one he learned from and the
one he must create in his head to escape. "When you're a clown, it doesn't matter who you are," the old Arab once told him.
Harder is a very talented actor and throws himself into every role, mentally, emotionally and physically. Although an interesting
execution of Davey's story, there are times where the jumps are a little convoluted and the viewer must make extra efforts to
carry on the connection. The technical direction was also a little distracting, but probably just from a lack of rehearsals
and hopefully will be tightened up by the end of the play's run.
All in all, The Centering is a profound, intellectual and intense experiment that succeeds in presenting an unusual theme.
The Edmonton Journal
By: Todd Babiak
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Getting inside Davey's head
Davey is in trouble of the Kafka sort. And the schizophrenic sort. Maybe. The Centering is delightfully vague about its
protagonist's prison and the identity of his captor or captors. Oregonian Chris Harder, who plays Davey and an assortment
of the voices in his head, is a fireball of energy dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit on an almost bare stage. He moves
in and out of his various roles as Davey recalls the strange path that led him here -- wherever here is. We have the Arab
circus patriarch, Davey's desperate mother, Davey's eerily boyhood crush and -- for a sort of comic relief -- Presto Zucchini
the clown. Harder navigates between these roles by varying his body language, his intonation and his facial expressions. And,
for the most part, it works wonderfully. The Centering hints at political machinations, the intersection of extreme religious
beliefs and equally extreme counterterrorism measures. These themes rumble away, half-revealed, along with everything else in
Davey's confused and damaged brain. We don't know much about him, and this is a sort of relief. It is a rare pleasure to discover
a flawed character without a Freudian antecedent for his demons. Direct revelations about Davey's past, toward the end of the
solo performance, are almost unwelcome.
The Oregonian
by: Richard Wattenburg
Monday, June 05, 2006
The one-man show "The Centering," playing at the Back Door Theater, may have some inconvenient starting times, but Chris Harder's
performance makes the piece well worth a visit.
Co-written by local playwright Steve Patterson, who has never shied away from complicated political and social situations in his
plays, and Harder, this one-act takes us into the head of the political prisoner Davey. Although he doesn't know why he is
incarcerated, he is, nonetheless, forced to submit to humiliations and tortures of the kind we now associate with Abu Ghraib.
As he lives through these horrors and relives in his mind the past horrors of childhood victimization, Davey finds solace in an
imaginary circus world where, as Zucchino the clown, he escapes the unbearable pain of his nightmarish life.
The script is intriguing if a little overburdened. It is an absurdist exploration of the struggle for meaning in a harsh universe,
a psychological case study of child abuse, a disturbing political drama ripped from recent headlines and an entertaining clown
show -- perhaps too much for one play to handle. But on stage, Harder, a talented actor and a professional clown, adeptly juggles
all these balls, never letting one fall.
Directed by Lisa L. Abbott, Harder's performance is a tour de force. Not only does he fully inhabit Davey, but he also skillfully
plays the various other characters who populate Davey's troubled mind. Harder beautifully portrays the gentle warmth of Davey's
Arab clown mentor. Then without slipping into exaggeration, he captures the physical life and vocal quality of Davey's lonely and
emotionally strained mother as well as Davey's free-spirited, uninhibited young female friend, whom he represents as a tot and as
an adolescent.
In addition to these characters from Davey's past, Harder also gives enchanting life to Zucchino, whose clownish routines he plays
with wonderful dexterity.
Most impressive is the ease with which Harder makes difficult, instantaneous transitions from one character to another -- moving
with suppleness across gender, ethnic and age lines. Especially notable here is the artfulness with which Harder shifts back and
forth between the excruciating intensity of Davey's prison existence and the lighthearted playfulness of Zucchino's comic antics.
This play poses almost insurmountable problems to an actor, but Harder is definitely up to the challenge.
Portland Tribune
by: Eric Bartels
Friday June 9, 2006
In Chris Harder's one-man show at the Back Door Theater, a political prisoner caught up in the fear and suspicion that follows a
terrorist attack despairs of ever regaining his freedom. So he begins to fall back on a lifetime of memories, most of which
involve sexual depravity and a career as a clown.
It may sound absurd, but Harder's collaboration with local playwright Steve Patterson has produced a wonderfully crafted story
that is both laugh-out-loud funny and deeply poignant.
Harder is not a simple mimic capturing impressions of his characters, but a gifted actor who bravely slides inside them, moving
seamlessly from the frightened prisoner to an aging mentor to a tragically wounded single mother, among others. It's a true tour
de force.
