Sept 21, 2002, 2AM -- Initial comments
It's late, so I'll write up play details some other time (such as I can -- it's a rather chaotic play and a tad hard to describe. At the after party, Garett called it "an actor's nightmare" -- I'm thinking he meant that in the sense that Stephen King's book 'Misery' is a writer's nightmare, because he had nothing but good things to say about the cast and actually being in the play), but the short version is that I laughed *a lot* and can't wait to see it again. And not just because he’s in it, although I have to admit that I loved the fast-talking southern/homeboy accent/attitude he tossed in, and his outfit alone is worth a hell of a laugh. There were several fistfights among various characters during the second act (or as Garett said: that's not fighting; that's Garett getting his ass kicked) and plenty of good comedic acting all the way around, throughout both acts. It's actually a 21-year-old play, which I certainly wouldn't have guessed.
Sept 23, 2002
>> I did find a synopsis (sort of) on a ticket website.
Hehe -- "synopsis (sort of)" is about the best I think you can do for this particular play, but I'll see what I can come up with. First, though, a disclaimer. I am not a 'theater' person and don't know anything about reviewing, acting, producing, what-have-you, so this is purely one layperson’s opinion. In fact, thanks mainly to our favorite Sentinel trio, I've gone to more productions in the past few months than in the previous several years combined. Of course, now that I know a couple of local small theaters and realize how fun it is -- I might even catch something once in a while *without* any of them in it ;->.
With that out of the way... like the descriptions say, it's a futuristic farce, taking place during the Great Depression of 2020. The main 'plot' (such as it is) is a play-within-a-play (sort of), which happens to be one of my favorite theater clichés (and I don't mean that in a bad way in this case). All of the action takes place in a single room -- the run-down apartment of a rather disorganized theater troupe. Actually, calling them 'disorganized' is putting it extremely mildly. Come to think of it, calling them a 'theater troupe' is a bit of a misnomer as well. They do perform scenes, of a sort, but mostly seem to charge people to come into their apartment and watch their domestic disturbances take place.
Apparently in this future, money is extremely devalued and barter is commonplace, as is pollution (everyone wears masks, scarves, etc. over their faces while outside) and violence (there are several references to being pinned down by sniper fire and riots in the alley). Oh, and the 'police' are pretty much a protection racket with kickbacks, ala The Sopranos. Personally, I laughed quiet a bit during most of the play -- everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves onstage, which always helps. A couple of jokes seemed to stretch on a wee bit long (then again, it was opening night and things are often still being refined at that point), but there was always plenty going on simultaneously on other parts of the stage to keep you entertained. In fact, I'm looking forward to going back because at times there was *so* much going on that I totally lost track of some of the actors and, really, everyone deserves attention -- there are some *very* good performances here.
I think this play will especially appeal to actors and other folks in the business because one of the characters is someone who is just a tad nervous (Ha! Ok, I peaked the sarcasm meter there) about auditioning for the troupe and another is a 'fan' who would just *love* to act someday and keeps trying to work her way into the show. Both of these actresses did a marvelous job and seemed to be having a lot of fun with their roles.
I'm not going to give a lot of details because I know quite a few people who are hoping to catch it, but with regard to Garett's character (Wallace, the 'Nihilistic Torpedo,' who comes in as a member of the pseudo-play's audience during the second act), I'm torn re: what part of his performance I enjoyed the most. The eyes-bugging-out-of-his-head, unable-to-form-words bit when he first saw the girl he was after was funny as hell, of course. His indignant protests while being insulted cracked me up (seriously, though – him asking “Do I look like a goon?” while wearing *that* outfit -- how could you not laugh at that?). The flirtatious bit was just plain adorable, in an over-the-top, you-are-*such*-a-dog kind of way (the way he says 'silky' and 'tingle' now ranks right up there with the way Chris Meloni says 'fandando' and 'month' as words that make me happy for no easily explainable reason). And then there was him starting (and losing) fights -- nice stunts; lots of being thrown around the stage -- then dodging other fights (backed up against the wall with his eyes wide and his hands up, looking very, well, Blairish, for lack of a better word. Those of you who've seen The Sentinel know the look I mean). And for the finale – well, he doesn't dance around much, but there is definitely singing. It's the whole cast though, so unfortunately you can't pick out his voice very well.
Although he’s only in the last 20 minutes or so of the play, I -- and quite a few of the folks I spoke with after the performance -- found Wallace to be a pretty memorable character. I think one of the reasons he’s so engaging (other than the obvious ;->) is because he provides a slight dose of reality via to his reactions to the troupe. He walks into the chaos of the apartment with the 'play' already in progress and has no idea what's going on -- his "What the heck is going on in here?" attitude captures the mood of the audience beautifully. Catching sight of the lovely Sky Skrapper (sic), he decides to stay, then alternately flirts with her and tries to make a sale, thinking that his polyester will be a vast improvement over the troupe's current costumes (the scary part is --in some cases, he’s right). As the troupe proceeds with their scenes (in their own unique fashion), his utter, slack-jawed confusion and queries about "Did I miss something?" and "Was that supposed to make sense?" left me both laughing out loud and nodding my head in agreement. Of course, some of that may just be due to personal bias; I happen to think 'befuddled' is one of Garett's better expressions ;->.
So, if you like your comedy a bit madcap -- 'farce' truly is the operative word here -- and can appreciate a light-hearted look at a pretty dark future, I highly recommend No Scratch to those of you who can make it out to the Fremont Centre Theatre in South Pasadena between now and November 3 (8pm Friday & Saturday; 3pm Sunday).
Enjoy!
-- Star
P.S. I saw it again on September 27th and it was even smoother AND funnier, even when they had to deal with one of the folding chairs breaking in mid-scene. Gotta love live theater!