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Disclaimer:
The reviewers' opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TheatreLouisville.org. |
Peer Reviews Durang/Durang By Christopher Durang
The plays of Christopher Durang run the gamut of brilliant to just plain bad. For every intelligent piece of satire like Laughing Wild or Baby With The Bathwater, there is an over-performed turkey like Beyond Therapy. The Necessary Theatre's current production, Durang/Durang, presents six of Durang's short plays, a collection of some of his best and worst. I don't know if the order of the plays was dictated by the playwright or the company, but they wisely get the dreck over with right away. The opening play, Kitty the Waitress, is not only one of the worst things Durang has written, but may be one of the most painfully unfunny "comedies" ever. The so-called story involves a recently single man falling in love with either a waitress or a cat, I'm really not sure which. The cast of six tries really hard, but I just don't think there is any way they could have made this material work. Next up is the evening's best bit, Funeral Parlor. It involves a grieving widow's increasing agitation with a weird funeral guest's bizarre attempts at condolences. Susan Shumate and Tony Dingman give two of the best performances of the evening in the piece, which is at once hysterically funny and oddly moving. Strange behavior and familial propriety also feature in the next play, Wanda's Visit, about a married couple tormented by a crazy woman from the husband's past. Shumate and Tad Chitwood bicker to hilarious effect as the harried couple, but Karina Strange easily steals the show in this one as the completely insane Wanda. In Woman Stand Up, New York 1985, Cara Hicks plays a female standup comic with a lot of insecurities. Hicks' performance is impeccable, but the piece is calculated to make you uncomfortable. Your enjoyment of this one will depend strongly on your tolerance for this sort of material. DMV Tyrant is a sporadically funny chronicle of a man trying to renew his driver's license with an uncooperative DMV employee. This piece is really the show's missed opportunity; it's a well-written script but the two performers gave it absolutely no energy. Hallie Kirk is suitably condescending as the DMV lady, but Chris Anger (despite his name) never really gets as angry as his character should. There were a lot of long pauses that appeared to be dropped lines, and the whole scene just moved very slowly. Finally, the evening is capped off with one of Durang's more famous short plays, For Whom The Southern Belle Tolls, a wacky parody of all things Tennessee Williams. Chris Anger fares much better in this one, in the role of Lawrence, a hypochondriac mother's boy who never leaves the house and reveres his collection of swizzle sticks. Shumate shines again as Amanda, Lawrence's vivacious and long-suffering mother. Chitwood seems miscast here Amanda's other son, Tom, as he is quite obviously much older than Shumate, but he still manages some funny moments. Hallie Kirk, on the other hand, is extremely funny as a half-deaf lesbian love interest for Lawrence. Overall, the show has its highs and lows but most of the problems I noticed would probably reduce or disappear with each performance. It was still an entertaining evening of theatre, especially recommended to fans of Christopher Durang.
Durang/Durang http://www.tntky.org/
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