Bert V. Royal's "Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead" was first produced in 2004 as part of the New York Fringe Festival, where apparently it was very well received. Then it moved to off-Broadway, where it tanked. Seeing Havok Theatre Company's expensive-looking production here in Los Angeles, my first response is: yeah, I can see that.
It's a clever concept: the "Peanuts" kids spun forward to be angry, confused adolescents, with the Schultz characters' names shifted to initials or nicknames to (mostly) avoid copyright issues. And while there are some lovely moments in the show, ultimately it isn't a play, so much as it is a long, self-aware piece of competent sketch comedy...you know, with "meaningful" parts to make it a Piece of Theatre.
Havok Theatre's production has a lot going for it, not the least of which is an excellent (and gorgeous!) cast, featuring a number of TV/Film up-n'-comers and some really superior "unknowns". Nick DeGruccio's direction is smart and lively, and all the technical elements are rock-solid. All of which is terrific and certainly gets the audiences in. But the thing is, once you get past these elements...you need something to hold you there, that drives your interest forward, but the writing ultimately just isn't there. There's not much plot, rather a lot of character-revealing conversation. All of which is well-written and entertaining enough, but with not much at stake and no real spine to the story it's tough to care. Further, some of the young-adult versions of the original characters simply don't track from their cartoon origins (sorry: Peppermint Patty as a party girl slut? Nope.). And there's another of my pet peeves in evidence, seen in a number of first-time playwright's works: when one character comes out of the closet (and good for him)...we find out that nearly *everyone* in the show is secretly gay! Seriously...? Moments like these when I can see the playwright's personal issues--instead of the play--just annoy me as an audience member. Pulls me right out of the experience. And there's a moment at the end of the play when we find out who "CB"'s pen pal is, which I think is sweet but also left me feeling that it was a (forgive the expression) "royal" cop-out as to why the play's characters aren't *exactly* the "Peanuts" characters.
It's a fun night, all in all, and there's a lot worth liking. But much like the play's title--a cute palindrome that really has little to do with the story--it sets you up for greatness and smarts, but then doesn't satisfy.
Bottom line: B.
Til Next Time!
--HDSQ, Jr.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
"Compleat Female Stage Beauty" from Rogue Machine at Theatre/Theater
Jeffery Hatcher's play "Compleat Female Stage Beauty" is the first show produced by fledgling theatre company Rogue Machine, a troupe made up largely of PRT talent who were looking to do their own thing. And as solid as PRT work can be, all I can say is "lucky us!"
Rogue Machine has taken the somewhat ungainly Theatre/Theater space and turned it into an intimate uneven 3/4 thrust. Under the sharp direction of John Perrin Flynn, Hatcher's play of the last days of men playing women's roles during the English Restoration is a riveting look at artists who must change with the times or die. The tight, no-weak-links ensemble is lead by the exceptional Micheal Traynor as Ned Kynaston, the last of the male actors to specialize in playing female roles. I can't imagine an actor alive who doesn't see something of himself in Traynor's Kynaston -- one part star, one part whore, one part expert, and all-parts child forced to grow up. He is both delicate and fierce, much as the women who come to replace him are. But really everyone on stage is pitch-perfect, with special kudos to the foppish, but edgy performance turned in by Jaxon Gwillam as King Charles II. (And may I add *everyone* nailed the British accents--thank you!)
In this particular production the director and design team decided to turn this period piece into a work that is set in its own universe of the 17th Century by way of today's runway. Mostly the costumes look like something out of a "Vogue" shoot, with an emphasis on a 21st-C. retro-high-fashion feel, down-selling to jeans only once our hero has hit bottom. This is a bold choice, which I understood was to make the audience understand that the story is as fresh as this week's "Variety" (and with TV actors losing jobs to movie stars and "reality" "celebrities", and voice over artists losing work to TV stars these days, seems utterly on the money). But even while well-intentioned, I found this a little distracting, as the concept was not quite as solidified as it might have been: is this a look only sported by the rich? And if so, then at what financial point is the look abandoned to a lack of cash-flow, since everyone--no matter what their status--seems to be sporting some version of it most of the time, but not always? But I applaud the bigness and bravery of the choice, whereas so many companies would have done half-assed period clothing.
The show also had a single live musician in back and above the house, who played guitar and recorder during the scene breaks. Her singing and playing were lovely and the pieces appropriate, and I always love live musicians in a theatre setting, but truth be told I found a lone musician too small a sound to really fill the space. Not for volume so much as scale--this piece of theatre seemed larger than any one musician could balance. But this is a minor consideration considering the achievement of this new company in this, their debut production.
They have extended the run two weeks to June 15, by popular demand. I highly recommend you catch these folks while you can.
Bottom line: a solid A.
'Til next time!
--HDSQ, Jr
Rogue Machine has taken the somewhat ungainly Theatre/Theater space and turned it into an intimate uneven 3/4 thrust. Under the sharp direction of John Perrin Flynn, Hatcher's play of the last days of men playing women's roles during the English Restoration is a riveting look at artists who must change with the times or die. The tight, no-weak-links ensemble is lead by the exceptional Micheal Traynor as Ned Kynaston, the last of the male actors to specialize in playing female roles. I can't imagine an actor alive who doesn't see something of himself in Traynor's Kynaston -- one part star, one part whore, one part expert, and all-parts child forced to grow up. He is both delicate and fierce, much as the women who come to replace him are. But really everyone on stage is pitch-perfect, with special kudos to the foppish, but edgy performance turned in by Jaxon Gwillam as King Charles II. (And may I add *everyone* nailed the British accents--thank you!)
In this particular production the director and design team decided to turn this period piece into a work that is set in its own universe of the 17th Century by way of today's runway. Mostly the costumes look like something out of a "Vogue" shoot, with an emphasis on a 21st-C. retro-high-fashion feel, down-selling to jeans only once our hero has hit bottom. This is a bold choice, which I understood was to make the audience understand that the story is as fresh as this week's "Variety" (and with TV actors losing jobs to movie stars and "reality" "celebrities", and voice over artists losing work to TV stars these days, seems utterly on the money). But even while well-intentioned, I found this a little distracting, as the concept was not quite as solidified as it might have been: is this a look only sported by the rich? And if so, then at what financial point is the look abandoned to a lack of cash-flow, since everyone--no matter what their status--seems to be sporting some version of it most of the time, but not always? But I applaud the bigness and bravery of the choice, whereas so many companies would have done half-assed period clothing.
The show also had a single live musician in back and above the house, who played guitar and recorder during the scene breaks. Her singing and playing were lovely and the pieces appropriate, and I always love live musicians in a theatre setting, but truth be told I found a lone musician too small a sound to really fill the space. Not for volume so much as scale--this piece of theatre seemed larger than any one musician could balance. But this is a minor consideration considering the achievement of this new company in this, their debut production.
They have extended the run two weeks to June 15, by popular demand. I highly recommend you catch these folks while you can.
Bottom line: a solid A.
'Til next time!
--HDSQ, Jr
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