Three Strikes

Brian Finkelstein is dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling, and the LA-based teller of tales and Emmy Award-nominated writer has resided in Perth throughout January to present workshops for Barefaced Stories, where novice and advanced storytellers develop their skills as raconteurs.

The highly lauded storytelling organisation The Moth, of which Finkelstein is an LA StorySLAM host, outlines the aim of the raconteur: to tease out the uniqueness of ordinary life and transform it into a true tale. It describes a night of storytelling as, “A dance between documentary and theatre – since each story is true and every voice authentic – creating a unique, intimate, and often enlightening experience for the audience. At the centre of each performance is the story and the skill of the raconteur is to find it, shape it and present it.”

As the Barefaced Stories season begins for 2012, Finkelstein is performing his story, Three Strikes, as an exclusive performance for the Summer Nights program.

On his 39th birthday Brian Finkelstein went on strike for the third time: the American Writers' Strike of 2007 that shut down television shows and film productions, costing the Los Angeles entertainment industry 2.5 billion dollars. For months he walked around in circles, marched up the street and back, and ate lunches delivered to him by Jay Leno in a vintage convertible.

Three Strikes is the story of these labour disputes as they compare to the Haymarket Massacre of 1886, incited by a bomb-throwing anarchist and which resulted in five men being convicted of murder, four of whom were executed, and another committed suicide in prison.

Finkelstein is the first to admit: the comparison is ridiculous.

This makes up the broad strokes of Three Strikes. The wit and pathos are found in the finer points of Finkelstein’s storytelling. As a man whose bread and butter is word-smithing, Finkelstein’s story structure arcs like a perfect rainbow. His honest and self-deprecating style exposes a desperate need to belong: he reveals to us how his inclusion in the writers’ team whilst working on The Ellen DeGeneres Show was systematically eroded by small details such as his office being situated around the corner and far down the hall from the other writers’ offices, which alienated him to such a degree that people forgot to invite him to meetings. That is, until he developed a convoluted ruse that hung on the delicate code of what kind of coffee one drinks and whether one is included in the daily coffee run. The whole show is full of these very complex, very minor, yet very funny details.

Finkelstein is aware that a story based only on his exclusion from his co-workers and his brief encounter with Jay Leno – who unintentionally disarmed Finkelstein’s desire to fight for his job by the sheer deep hue of his eyes – would be pretty light. His juxtaposition of the Haymarket massacre – as told through a character based on Finkelstein’s history teacher in high school – brings weight to the piece, and highlights the excesses and absurdity of the Hollywood film and television industry by comparison.

However, this is where a difficult line is trodden between theatre and documentary. The character of the teacher most definitely falls into the category of theatre, and Finkelstein as a character performer is less convincing than Finkelstein spinning a great tale out of his own experiences. As such, the horror and drama of the Haymarket massacre doesn’t quite reach the audience. It is also hindered by progressively faster switches between the two places. Not enough space is given to the impact of the depiction of a condemned man’s last words deliberately cut short by his executioner in 1886, before we are back in 2007 with jokes and idioms of life as a Jewish writer in Hollywood.

However, at the end of this furious switching between time-periods, is a closing scene that is ultimately gratifying. Called into the Executive Producer’s office after 100 days of strike action, Finkelstein makes a choice. Somewhat apathetic and driven by other peoples’ actions throughout this story, Finkelstein finally chooses his own path. It involves an elephant and a permanent marker, and I won’t reveal anything more, only to say that it is the sweet fruit of this storyteller’s labours.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The Blue Room Theatre Summer Nights & Barefaced in association with PICA present
Three Strikes
By Brian Finkelstein

PICA Performance Space
53 James Street Northbridge, WA
Until 4 February 2012
Bookings: www.fringeworld.com.au