POUNDING NAILS IN THE FLOOR WITH MY FOREHEAD, by Eric Bogosian, directed by Russell Owen, with Michael Kash. Presented by Bridge Productions at the Space (489 Dupont). Runs to June 4, Tuesday-Saturday at 8 pm, late shows Thursday-Saturday 10:30 pm. $15-$19. 304-0845. Rating: NNNN
The props are minimal: a desk, a chair, a microphone. But from these basic elements, performer Michael Kash and director Russell Owen create searing drama from Eric Bogosian’s1994 play Pounding Nails In The Floor With My Forehead.
Like Bogosian’s previous works (Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll Drinking In America), Nails is a capital-A angry indictment of contemporary life.
This time, he sounds off on themes like homelessness, consumerism, disease and middle-class hypocrisy.
“I’m your worst nightmare,” says a character early on in the piece. But he’s nothing compared to the monsters to come, like the agoraphobic suburban dad who thinks you should fight the homeless with napalm, or the doctor who breezily recounts the long list of side effects we’re going to feel after taking our medicine.
Clad in typical Bogosian wear (black T-shirt and jeans and sneakers), the gritty-voiced Kash fully inhabits the angry heterosexual white skins of the show’s male characters. His eyes maniacally restless, his body jolting with nervous energy, he never lingers preciously over statements or pounds out the irony of a situation. He’s so good, you feel the words are his own.
The 90-minute show is smartly paced, simply yet effectively lit by George Kash, and completely entertaining.
