"CURTAIN CALLS"
By Pat Launer
09/02/05
Love
is a matter of risk and surprises
It
comes in all styles, shapes and sizes,
Whether
‘First Love’ or mother-love, from shriek to sigh
There’s
always more than meets the eye.
Getting
on in years, they have no time to waste. If they’re gonna fall in and out of
love, fight, make up, come apart and stay together, they’d better do it fast.
That’s the premise of Charles Mee’s late-life “First Love.” It’s a surreal 2001 dramedy, rife with regrets,
one-liners, acrimony and affection. It’s an absurdist fantasy. But in the
inaugural production of InnerMission Productions, it feels like a naturalistic
kitchen-sink comedy. The phantasmal scenes, featuring pert, young Brenna Briski, are not as
fantastical as they should be. The pace is pokier. The whole approach to the
piece is one of stark realism rather than a time-crunching fantasia. George Soete and
Joan Westmoreland do solid work in the roles of the homeless Harold and feisty
Edith, though the tone of the acting doesn’t always match the tenor of the
piece.
They
meet not-so-cute on a park bench; she shoves him over, bullies him, then takes him home. They sing songs, dance in an
old-fashioned way, do a strip-tease, attempt sex, reveal their fetishes, and
unload a lifetime of baggage. But there isn’t enough playfulness or sexiness
here. Everyone’s working hard, but no one seems to have a firm grasp on the
piece. Carla Nell’s direction is not precise and specific enough. She’s trying
to do too much (technically and otherwise), when something more simple, speedy
and stylized would have worked so much better. These are disgruntled ’50-60s
radicals (“We lost a lot when we lost Communism,” Edith laments). This isn’t
Golden Pond (that’s coming in November to the Avo). There should be one single,
shared highly intimate and ultra-charged mind-body-and-soul when they
rapturously recite Ginsberg’s “Howl” in unison. There should be a palpable
sensuality and mutual attraction. The rage is played best, but the raw sex -- and Harold’s sexual fantasies -- are played down.
Here, the ever-intruding visions of a ‘young thing’ are more confusing than
enlightening or amusing.
Stagehands
waft in and out, adding set pieces that really aren’t necessary (though the
changes are made silently and seamlessly). The lighting is garish and
intrusive. Admittedly, the play is flawed; it is far less grand or
grandiloquent than the other parts of Mee’s love trilogy, “Big Love” and “True
Love,” which riff on Greek dramas. This much smaller piece plays more like the
poignant comedy, “I’m Not Rappaport,” though that’s
not quite the intention. But it was a risky undertaking for a young director
and a new company. It’ll be fascinating to see what they do next.
At St. Cecilia’s, through September 3.
What
if the world just took a day off? It’d be great not to go to work (well, for
some people; others are too obsessed to think the planet with continue to
rotate without them). But that also means no TV, no restaurants, no phone
service, no police. EVERYONE is off. It’s an experiment the world is willing to
try in Kristina Meek’s “The Day After Yesterday,” an imaginative work that’s getting
its premiere at North Park Vaudeville, under the aegis of GB Productions. Fascinating premise, an imaginative contemplation of time.
But poor workaholic Gina (totally believable Kathleen Massé)
can’t conceive of a World Wide Day Off. Whatever will she do with all that time
and no computer to log into? Her slacker live-in boyfriend, Dirk (cute and
credible Robby Lyons), a wannabe guitarist who tests computer games for a
‘living,’ thinks it’s a super idea, and a great way for Gina to chill out for
once. He decides he won’t breathe for the day, and runs off and finds a TV
reporter, Josanne (the engagingly smarmy, ever-smiley
Stephanie Jackson) to interview him. Meanwhile, Gina is still living in the
past, frightened of the apple-tossing talking trees in “The Wizard of Oz” and
regretting the breakup of her last relationship (and engagement), which her
awful, demeaning mother (Summer Golden) never fails to rub her nose in. Said
mother also shows up as Fear in Gina’s nightmares, underscoring all the
self-doubts and self-flagellations that escalate and haunt during her non-waking
hours.
Ultimately,
time takes its toll on Gina (as does her mother, who also becomes annoying to
us. Golden’s lisp and overbearing stage persona wear
out their welcome). In a ‘Groundhog Day’ scenario, Gina relives some
experiences and conversations, and foresees others. She’s trapped, or
free-floating, in the time-space continuum. This changes her perspective on
life and Dirk and maybe even her mother. There’s a wonderful moment when Gina
and Dirk come together, and she tries to understand what’s happening to her,
time-wise. Dirk calms her, lies with her, and just before a blackout, she says
“What day do you think it’ll be tomorrow?” That should have been the end
of the play. But Meek, who also serves as director, goes on and on, for many
more scenes (punctuated by painfully slow and totally unnecessary costume
changes and blackouts). Meek’s dialogue is snappy,
real. She has some intriguing ideas. But like most playwrights, she’d benefit
from an outside eye and opinion. She’s definitely a writer to watch; next time,
she should give the directorial reins to someone else and see what new dramatic
magic can be wrought.
At
BLITZED OUT
The
final weekend of the Fritz Blitz of New Plays by California Writers was
the best. A full-length play, ”Munched,” by San Franciscan Kim Porter, brought the Blitz to an
auspicious and haunting close. The play concerns Munchausen
syndrome by proxy. Munchausen’s syndrome is named for the Baron von Munchausen, legendary 18th century confabulator.
In that disorder, the patient pleas for treatment and hospitalization for an
acute, symptomatic but imaginary illness. In the disease ‘by proxy,’ it’s the
parent/caregiver of the afflicted who is creating the disease or disability, to
attract attention to him/herself, as martyr and suffering savior. So this is
the setup in “Munched.”
Marybeth
has been accused of killing her first two daughters and making her third sick
in all sorts of dastardly ways (putting feces in her IV, inducing diarrhea and
vomiting). By the time she’s 6, Katie has been hospitalized seven times, once
for 28 days. One night, Marybeth is dragged away from the hospital bedside
where she’s resolutely stationed herself, and hauled off to jail. She spends 25
years incarcerated.
In captivating ways, the play flashes back and
forward from past to present. Mother and daughter, situated on opposite sides
of the stage, tell their sides of the story. Marybeth insists she’s been
misunderstood. Katie is trying to piece it all together, having just found all
her mother’s letters and having gone through the court transcripts and all the
sensationalized newspaper reports, which gave rise to a book, “Mothered or
Smothered: The Marybeth Paxton Story.” Katie wants to get to the truth. How
much did her little lies cost her mother? Is it possible that Marybeth was
“Munched,” that is, falsely accused of Munchausen’s by proxy? Porter doesn’t
give us any easy answers; in fact, as the tension builds, as mother and
daughter are finally reunited, the questions and uncertainly mount. The
climactic ending is disturbing, to say the least, it doesn’t leave us feeling
fulfilled or assured.
As
directed by Emily Cornelius, the play moved at a pulse-quickening pace. The
production was simple; Katie sitting in a car seat, her mother pacing in her
apartment. Other people (all of them played by Monique Gaffney and Brian Taraz)
move in and out of the action. A nurse, a cop, a parole
officer, a be-turbaned weirdo. So many chilling details, so much to
absorb.. But the direction and performances make it
easy. Kathi Diamant is terrific as Marybeth, a mass (mess?) of emotional
extremes; she’s loving, angry, tender, guilt-ridden, furious and destructive.
She hasn’t accepted her diagnosis or fate, even after decades in the slammer.
She insists on her innocence. Katie doesn’t seem so quick to forgive, but she’s
got her own demons; is she a survivor or a facilitator? Jeannine Marquie is
outstanding in this role, which encompasses a variety of other character
impersonations, including a very funny turn as a gossip-mongering librarian.
Some of Taraz’ generally unsavory array of characters tend to morph into each
other, but Gaffney is precise and detailed in each of her portrayals, some of
which are acidic, some benign, some officious and others just plain weird. She
does a superb job. The set and lighting are simple; the words and emotions
carry all (new theater companies, take note!).
This
proved a potent, provocative ending to the Blitz.
MOMMIES DEAREST
Lisa
is torn between two mothers. Her birth mother, whom she hasn’t seen since
birth, is manic-depressive and homeless. Her adoptive mother is selfish and
nasty. Karen Paull’s “Flesh and Blood” is loosely based on her own life experience as an
adopted child who, after many years, tracked down her troubled birth mother.
But she’s taken a lot of poetic license, both in content and style, abetted by
director Karen Berthel.
Paull has moved herself and her troupe, Electra Theatre
Company (ETC), from
Clearly,
ETC isn’t afraid to tackle tough themes in unconventional ways. It’ll be fun to
see what the transplanted company is up to next.
At
WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT
Due to “major technical
difficulties,” the Poor Players are postponing the official opening of their
gender-bending “As You Like It” (could
it be costume malfunctions??). The
production still debuts this weekend at the Hearth Theatre of San Marcos, but
it’s now a ‘preview weekend’ with Pay-What-You-May prices. The regular run
continues in
AUGUST’S WORST AUGUST
Timing is everything. August Wilson,
considered one of
GOOD TIMES AT THE GLOBE
In this, the 70th
anniversary of the Old Globe Theatre, the good times just keep rollin’. Last week was the splendid 90th
Birthday Bash for founding director Craig
Noel. And this week, the introduction of “
The Bday
party was filled with humor and good wishes, jabs at Craig and the unveiling of
his new statue in the Globe lobby (it’s only missing his signature fisherman’s
cap and cigarette). Some eleven associate artists (including Katherine McGrath,
Jonathan McMurtry, Harry Groener and Dakin Matthews) took to the stage to sing
Craig’s praises. Jack O’Brien, that incomparable orator, served as MC at the
sumptuous dinner. He said, with a wink, there are two things you learn when
working with Craig: one, never mention his birthday (or, God forbid, sing that
awful birthday song). And two, never ask him what he thinks of your work unless
you really want to hear the truth. Craig was delightful (if
self-effacing), and being the mensch that he is, took his time at the
microphone to praise the other theaters in town, large and small. What a guy!
And what a gal
NOW, FOR WHAT’S 'NOT
TO BE MISSED!' (i.e., Critic’s Picks)
“I Am My Own Wife” – another opportunity to see Jefferson Mays’ dazzling
performance as the German transvestite who was a survivor and an enigma. Provocative play, incredible acting. Don’t miss it this
time. Or if you saw it before, see it again; it’s as stellar as the first time!
At the
“The Male Intellect: An
Oxymoron” – a fun date night,
which shows both genders a few of their more amusing and infuriating foibles.
Closing weekend (after >250 performances) at the Theatre in
“The Winter’s Tale” – beautifully designed and directed. Director Darko
Tresnjak is a wonder, and he teases outstanding performances from his talented
ensemble.
In repertory on the Globe’s Festival Stage, through October 2.
“Macbeth” – marvelous direction (Paul Mullins), costumes (Linda Cho)
and truly spooky, chilling moments make this “MacB” a
standout.
In repertory on the Globe’s Festival Stage, through October 2.
“The Comedy of Errors” – Director Darko Tresnjak shows his sillier side, with
a farcical, slapstick production that’s precisely directed and humorously
performed.
In repertory on the Globe’s Festival Stage, through October 2.
Okay, no more summer excuses; it’s Back to School
– and Back-to-Theater time!
©2005 Patté
Productions Inc.