"CURTAIN
CALLS" #227
By
1/25/08
In this time of instability,
What we need is a
But we get This
Island split asunder
Where Our
Youth can only stop and wonder
What’s a Daddy?
Is he from a Machine?
And is The Pillowman kind or mean?
THE SHOW:
THE STORY/THE PLAY: The central narrative concerns a milquetoast
psychologist who moves with his relatively new wife from
The dialogue
is crisp, quippy and sometimes clever. But why are so
many of these people here? And why doesn’t the play seem to go anywhere? We feel disconcertingly
unsatisfied at the end of the evening, as if we’ve been to an over-long
THE PLAYERS/THE PRODUCTION: The performances are quite good. But the best part of this effort, by far,
is the set (Scott Bradley), a gorgeous, expansive, viga-beamed
adobe, with huge windows, a patio filled with yucca plants and a jacuzzi, and surprisingly frumpy
furniture within. The playing spaces (mostly the living room and the shrink’s
office) glide in and out effortlessly and unobtrusively.
Michael
Bloom, artistic director of the Cleveland Playhouse, makes his Globe debut with
excellent casting. But he seems stumped by the tonal shifts, too. And we’re
never quite sure where to direct our attention or sympathies. Ted Köch makes Ben a real zhlub, who
can’t seem to do right by/for anyone, though he’s trying (in both senses of the
word). As his wife, USD/Old Globe MFA alumna Erika Rolfsrud
does a marvelous job of starting out perky and energetic and gradually,
credibly, descending into debilitating disease (and dis-ease).
Jeffrey Kuhn is hyper and funny as her randy
THE LOCATION: The Old Globe, through
February 17
Morbidity and
Mortality
THE SHOW: The Pillowman, by Martin McDonagh, the English/Irish king
of the blackest of comedies. This piece premiered in
THE STORY: Katurian is a short-story writer
living in an unnamed totalitarian state. He’s under hostile interrogation by a
pair of detectives, because the gruesome content of his stories seems to
parallel a series of grisly child murders. Meanwhile, the screams of Katurian’s mentally incompetent brother are heard from an
adjoining cell. As Katurian is forced to read his
stories aloud, they are enacted on another part of the stage, revealing the
torture of the children and the horrors of his own childhood. The play spotlights and upends notions of trust and
truth. Each character lies, makes up stories, tries to dupe and deceive the
others. Each has had a harsh and harmful childhood. The dangerous power -- and
price -- of storytelling is presented, questioned and turned inside out.
The PLAYERS/THE PRODUCTION: The play is
potent, provocative, grisly, macabre and often shockingly, disturbingly funny.
Under Claudio Raygoza’s expert direction, the
performances are outstanding, and the gruesome absurdity of the piece is
perfectly captured. As Katurian, Jeffrey Jones is
wonderful -- smart, arrogant, damaged, imaginative, a parent/protector of his
developmentally disabled brother, but also a proud egotist who values his own
writings more than his life. John Polak brings a
hideous, touching menace to Michal, whose innocence
is belied by his brutality. Matt Scott and Jamie Effros
play the good cop/bad cop duo, one a soft-spoken, terrorizing manipulator, the
other a hot-headed, violent abuser with a few awful secrets of his own. Kim Strassburger and Bill Dunnam are
aptly ghastly in the dumb-show enactments of the stories, abetted by young Ari Lerner, Zev Lerner and Jessalyn Hernandez as the kid-victims and victimizers.
Raygoza and Scott have created what the Lerner
boys call the ‘Transformer set.’ In the intimate space of ion’s new little
theater, the walls slide open and closed, changing
from the cinderblock interrogation room to a cramped house or a lush forest.
Magical! Raygoza’s lights and sound are glaring
and/or eerie, and Jeannie Galioto’s costumes are just
right. There may be a few implausible moments in the script, but since it’s all
about imagination, we can let go. This is a superb production of a gloriously
hideous play.
THE LOCATION: ion Theatre, through
February 16
BOTTOM LINE: BEST BET
The Essence of
Adolescence
THE SHOW: This is our Youth, the first play by Kenneth Lonergan (1996),
who went on to gain acclaim with Lobby
Hero and The Waverly Gallery, as
well as the films “You Can Count on Me” and “Analyze This.”
THE STORY: We’re in a dingy, ratty, naked-lightbulb,
one-room apartment in the Upper West Side of
Lonergan
has a pitch-perfect ear for the rhythms of kid-speak (“like, whatever”). His
dialogue crackles, and his bully-victim, young-love, grief-and-despair
situations are totally believable.
THE PLAYERS/THE PRODUCTION: It’s a superb
actors’ showcase. The three roles are very juicy, and two of the players
inhabited the characters in a stunning 2006 reading. Now, under the taut and
detailed direction of Francis Gercke,
As the sly, scheming maneuverer,
Dennis,
Gercke’s set is a raunchy room, Amanda Sitton’s
costumes are just right (too-dirty t-shirt, too-short skirt, too-geeky
sweater). It’s a wonderful production overall. It leaves you hoping these kids
will grow up soon, and get their stuff together. At the end, there’s only a
vague, faint glimmer of hope or potential.
THE LOCATION: New Village Arts,
through February 17
BOTTOM LINE: BEST BET
House of
Pancakes
THE SHOW: The Daddy Machine, world premiere of a new, one-hour, family-friendly musical by locals Rayme Sciaroni (music and lyrics)
and Patricia Loughry (book). Diversionary
commissioned the show, is based on the Johnny Valentine book of the same name.
THE STORY: It’s the first day of summer vacation, and young
Harry plans to perpetuate a family tradition by kicking off the season with a
big stack of ‘secret-ingredient’ pancakes. But when one of his two mommies gets
a toothache, and the other one whips her off to the dentist, Harry and his
egghead sister Sue are left alone -- she
with her laptop and math story problems, he with his sulking restlessness.
Fiddling around with the large refrigerator box standing in the living room, he
manages to invent a ‘Daddy Machine’ that churns out a series of ever-worsening
Paternal Units bearing stacks of inedible pancakes. The dog keeps singing, the
Dads keep coming (about 8 of them from the audience),
the movie spoofs (from “Star Wars” to “Chariots of Fire”) keep amusing the
adults. The pancakes may be indigestible, but the show goes down easily, and is
quite tasty.
The music for
the six songs is pleasant and singable, the lyrics
are serviceable, if not inspired, and the humor covers both the younger and
older set. Everyone (with accompanying kids or not) was more than willing to
sing along and volunteer to go backstage, don a funny hat (Village People,
anyone?) and come out as one of the Dads. Even a four year-old got into the act
during the matinee I was there. The most engaging songs are “It’s
THE PLAYERS/THE PRODUCTION: Diversionary
is breaking new ground here. According to executive and artistic director Dan
Kirsch, there isn’t another lesbian-mom musical around. And this one isn’t
making any hard-hitting points. It’s just saying that a 2-mom family is
perfectly natural (even if one of the moms is a tool-obsessed Ms. Fix-It), and
having a Dad around the house would be more disruptive than advantageous (“A
Dad’s just a Mom who’s a man”). Okay, maybe it’s a bit much that two of the
‘62’ dads get it on and move in down the block. But there’s so much good energy
and good will here, it’s hard to gripe or grouse.
Under the lively co-direction of Siobhan Sullivan
and Rayme Sciaroni, the
cast is game and engaging, if not consistently strong vocally (the singing
standouts are Andy Collins and Krista Page -- one Dad, one Mom). As the dog Stoney (aka Stonewall), Jacob Caltrider is cute -- and cutely attired (by Shelly
Williams, who created all the fun costumes). Krista Page and Susan Hammons make
for a credible pair of moms. Benjamin Shaffer (alternating with Max
Oilman-Williams) and Haley Heidemann (switching off
with Lirenza Gillette) are adorable and believable as
the kids.
At the opening night performance, it was announced
that R Family Vacations, the first family-oriented gay travel company
(co-founded by Kelli O’Donnell, partner of Rosie
O’Donnell), has asked to have The Daddy
Machine performed on its next gay and lesbian cruise (March 15, from
THE LOCATION: Diversionary Theatre,
through January 27
BOTTOM LINE: BEST BET
THE SHOW: Once on this
California Young Actors Conservatory produced the
charming little musical that hasn’t been seen in
THE STORY: A little girl is frightened by the
tropical storm, and to calm her, the adults act out the story of Ti Moune. It’s a tale of forbidden love, crossing a cultural
divide. Ti Moune is an orphaned waif who was washed
ashore during a storm and raised by dark-skinned local peasants. On the other side
of the island are the uppity, light-skinned, Frenchified
Grandes Hommes. Ti Moune prays to the gods to let her meet a grand homme.
She soon encounters and falls in love with Daniel. But their love is doomed,
and has dire consequences.
THE PLAYERS/THE PRODUCTION: On the
evocative island set (Mike Buckley), and under the sprightly direction of
artistic director Shaun T. Evans (choreography by Tina Marie Honor), CYAC did a lovely job. The beautiful Chondra
Profit, recently excellent in Common Ground’s Christmas is Comin’ Uptown, was
outstanding as Ti Moune. Her connection to her Daniel
(Dirk Stenger) was palpable. The four gods, played by Honor, Evans, Loren Lott
and rubber-legged Jay-Jay Sharpe, were especially strong, both vocally and
dramatically. The story is one of race, class and gender inequities, but the
calypso rhythms keep the feeling light. The harmonies were lovely and the
story, touching. Another challenging undertaking by Evans,
who continues to stretch his players and extend the musical repertory.
Once on This Island closed January 20.
NEWS AND VIEWS ….
![C:\Users\Melissa\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Low\Content.IE5\8Q9ZUGPY\Patte_11th[1].jpg](ts080125_files/image002.jpg)
… It’s almost here: the TV broadcast of the 11th Annual Patté Awards for
Theater Excellence. Saturday, February 2 at 7pm on
Channel 4. If you missed the event, you DON’T want to miss
the show!
Pillows, Papas and a Peripatetic…. I’ll be on KUSI-TV this
weekend, on Good Morning,
No Show, No Explanation… The Lynx Performance Theatre production
of Sam Shepard’s Buried Child, which had already been pushed back,
has been canceled. Apparently, a lead actor walked out a week before the
opening, which was to be Jan. 25. No future plans for the production have been
announced.
Johnny on the Spot… Malashock Dance artistic director
.. and speaking of being backstage for dance,
check out the open Dress Rehearsal of Les
Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. The “Trocks,” masters of classical ballet en travesty, will be strutting their tu-tued stuff on Feb. 9 at 4:30 pm at the
… Out of the Mouths of Babes… The winners of the 23rd
…February means V-Day… BOTH of them! In addition to the Hallmark-fest of
that Day of Love, once again, Eve Ensler is making
her Vagina Monologues available
worldwide for that OTHER V-Day celebration -- presentations of the play that
benefit organizations battling violence against women. This is the tenth
anniversary of the V-Day global movement, which has raised more than $50
million thus far. Last year, there were 3000 benefit productions of The Vagina Monologues. Locally, Step UP
Theatre, in association with Battlecry and Inner
Mission Productions, will present the work’s timeless and provocative voices of
women at 7pm on February 7 at the Birch North Park Theatre.www.innermissionproductions.org
… Multi-talented San Diegan! … After her stellar turn in The Joint is Jumpin’
at the Patté Awards, Karole Foreman is on to her next (BIG) project.
Playwright’s Arena is producing a reading of a new rock opera she wrote (book
and lyrics) with composer
…And, at the same time, 6th @ Penn Theatre is producing
another adaptation of the same story. Tony
and Cleo, a new work by local writer Howard Rubenstein, is based on historical
and primary sources, rather than Shakespeare’s play. The piece is directed by
Tyler Hewes, who says he’s working with a “delightful
ensemble,” headed by Tony Hamm and Lesha Montoya in
the title roles. Off-nights, Feb. 3-27.
DON’T
FORGET YOUR
… “ion’s intimate ibsen,”
ion theatre’s year-long series of readings by Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, begins with Pillars of Society, directed by Claudio Raygoza. January 27 at 1pm in ion’s new space, The Lab at the
… Scripps Ranch Theatre presents a reading of Jean Giroudoux’s
1950 comic fable, The Madwoman of Chaillot, with a killer cast. January
25-26, on the campus of
…Cygnet Theatre and the San Diego Black Ensemble Theatre
open this year’s series of readings of the influential plays of August
… Chronos Theatre Group presents the
timeless collection of Persian poems, the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam,
as a staged reading with musk, dance and magic. 7:30pm, the Lyceum
… Handbag, a
collaboratively written women’s performance piece, directed by Lisa Berger
(recent Patté Winner!), with music composed by Bridget Brigitte. February 4. Free admission; info at 760-750-4366.
'NOT TO BE MISSED!' (Pat’s Picks)
The Pillowman – very dark, intermittently funny,
brilliantly executed (pardon the pun)
Ion theatre, through
2/16
This is Our Youth – disaffected young folks in Reagan era
New Village Arts,
through 2/17
The Daddy Machine – cute, fun, singalong, family-friendly new
2-Mommy musical
Diversionary Theatre,
through 1/27
In This Corner – interesting, if flawed play, wonderfully
acted; more history than character, but it’s a knockout boxing story
Cassius Carter Centre
Stage, through 2/10
(For full text of all of
Pat’s past reviews, going back to 1990, use the Search engine at
www.patteproductions.com)
Even if the rains come, you can stay dry in a
theater (and still whet your intellectual appetite)!
Pat
© 2007 PATTÉ PRODUCTIONS, INC.
For more than 20 years,