Duncan Pflaster is proving quite the prolific comedic playwright in recent years, with upwards of thirteen works written and produced, several of them award winners, not to mention numerous skits and sketches for various venues. Even then, he freely admits that one of his most recent works, The Taint of Equality or, I Want Your Sex, was likely the fastest in writing itself – if such can ever be said of this recalcitrant form. There is some sense of this fluid ease carried forward in the production playing at Planet Connections Theatre Festivity this year, and it may be down to the fact that Pflaster himself is directing. As author he knows distinctly the feeling he is trying to conjure and adroitly directs his cast accordingly. The result is a romping, light-hearted piece in a farcical vein, with some sturdy, crowd-pleasing muscle.

The story concerns happily partnered duo, Adrian and Javier, about to celebrate seven years of connubial bliss. Or rather, it would be connubial if legality had afforded the possibility. And now though, in New York state, it has and, well, Adrian and Javier are sensitive to the notion that perhaps their togetherness could be solemnized, completed in some manner. But as good queer theorists (Adrian is a renowned author on topics Queer) they balk at the conventional tone that marriage invokes; it goes against their queer credentials. Despite this, peer and media pressure is prompting a declaration of some kind from the pair and, well that just makes them mad, people! In fact, to reassert their standards as open-relationship, non-exclusive, unmarried queer men, they decide to engage in public sexual dalliances with other men. Damn straight! Or, for these two, maybe not. The easy pickings afforded in the contemporary gay milieu are denied them on account of a series of comically bungled sexcapades. A heavy pinch of farcical salt sees each of the duo initiate gambits and watch them unravel as situations credibly mundane (drug usage, decency policing) and broadly ludicrous (impersonation, histrionics, and pique) erupt at every turn. The mayhem is added to by well-meaning friends, and all comes to a glorious head in a pricelessly staged set piece which is the unexpected gem at the center of this production. This scene is enacted at a sex club on a blackout party night, when the men move through a darkened environment with just mini flashlights to guide them. Visually this is a stunner, comedically enriched by campy choreography (David Baxter) and some nice co-ordination by the entire cast, who happen to be – entirely naked. It’s a show-stopper.

There are some serious themes at the center of this tale, but Pflaster never gets bogged down in any of them. Entertainment is his bag, and deep thoughts about the possibility, or desirability of open relationships are paid only air-kissy acknowledgement. In Taint he holds fast to a light entertainment coda that’s purposely too soft-hearted to rank as satire. No incisor marks are left, and he’s altogether too knowing to endorse any single philosophical perspective. He does at the end, however, leave us with a twisting teaser, when Adrian – having newly plighted his troth to Javier – picks up the phone to use this information as a sexual lure for one of his earlier non-conquests. Is there the ghost of some shadow here, or is it just a case of what goes around, comes around?

In actors Alan McNaney (Adrian) and Mark-Eugene Garcia (Javier) he has two attractive leads who hint that they would be equal to a more sober examination of these dramatic themes. They are not, however, out of sync with the broader comic, caricatured presences surrounding them, and the cast gels nicely into a funny bone-seeking ensemble. Sparkling cameos are enjoyed by Joe Fanelli, Colin Godwin, and David T. Zimmerman, while some of the heavier lifting is done by Marvin Riggins, Jr., and Juan Carlos Diaz. Vin Macri is very effective at working sound and lighting effects.

As auteur/director Pflaster does show some signs of self-indulgence; a rather extended riff on Sondheim connected puns proves groaningly belabored. It seems a little gilt on the lily is too tempting to pass up; do we really require the play’s subtitle? But it’s all in good humor, plausibly with an air of self-mockery. It’s about fun, people, remember fun? There’s fun aplenty here. Last I checked, ‘taint no crime.

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Related Posts:

• The Taint Of Equality, Or I Want Your Sex – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• (un)missed connections – (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• The Empress of Sex (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• Pageant Princess – Music, Make-Up And Meltdowns (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• SAFE Is A Matter Of Perspective (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)

Acts of Love is a five act play, each act self contained and delivering a message of a type of love – be it romantic, familial, waning or budding.  Each of the five short plays illuminates love in the form of friendship, tentative romance, sibling tension or internal monologue.  Everyone is here: the human and super-human, the real and hyper real, the ones who fit in and the ones who stand out.  Acts of Love presents it all in an effort to leave no stone unturned to get to that crazy thing that drives us all.

The five shorts are written by either Gabrielle Fox or Mark Jason Williams and each act gives the audience an opportunity to either laugh, smile, cringe, or nod in recognition.  Written with warmth and sweetness, each play contains a nugget of truth that resonates with the watcher and invites you to examine your own connections.

Goodbye Party (by Fox) features Mary Roberts and Misti Tindiglia in a story about the meek Adrianna (Roberts) who abruptly quits her job and is lingering at her goodbye party where the lone Samantha (Tindiglia) remains, cleaning up.  Samantha is that typical office mother; the one who’s been there forever and seems to be as much a part of the office as the walls and the furniture.  To the untrained eye – Adrianna’s eye, let’s say – this is her future: marry her job and become a stereotype.  But scratch the surface of that stereotype and you’ll find a wise sage.  Samantha proves to be more than just the 9-5 poster-woman, and as she pokes a little deeper she finds that Adrianna left her job in order to get a party – one that secretly doubles as a 30th birthday party.  However, seeing nothing but post-it notes and staplers in her future Adrianna is resolved to go home and quietly pack it in.  After all, looking at Samantha, and seeing her future, the road ahead seems bleak.  In a clear case of short-sightedness the young woman doesn’t see the richness and fullness of the beauty that awaits her.  Samantha becomes like  a coach giving the player that boost of confidence right before the game.  It’s the kind of conversation we’ve all either had at some point in our lives, or wish we had.  Ultimately Adrianna realizes that not everything is as bleak as it seems.

Smiles to Saturn (by Williams) is the message play of the night centering around two brothers, one with Asperger’s Sysdrome and one with resentment.  The “normal” brother is having a party and has relegated his non-party-worthy brother to the basement where he can be content to play his games and sit in his jammies.  In a burst of magical realism a pop-up ad (Miss Sparkles) comes to life and gives the kid a pep talk about how to woo women.  When a gal from the party comes wandering into the basement feeling dejected she finds the company much more to her liking down there and with the (of course invisible) Miss Sparkles giving Cyrano-like prompts it’s not so difficult for an awkward but charming conversation to bubble up.  The theme here is that while it may not be a walk in the park dealing with someone who thinks differently and whose actions are difficult to predict, we’re all awkward and unpredictable in our own way and frankly all of us need to be treated specially and specifically.  And who couldn’t use a Miss Sparkles on our shoulder giving us some advice from time to time?

It is when Midnight Musings (by Williams who also directed the piece) arrives that the night is moved to a whole other level. While the plot is nothing more than the title implies, the story, the acting, the direction – everything about this little gem is perfect. Beautifully acted by Margie Ferris and Thom Christensen Musings is the story of Caroline and her string of hard-luck love stories. Having just come back from a date set up by “a friend” (well, OK Cupid) she notes how first dates are really akin to interviews. Rapid fire she reels off her history – her failed affairs, broken moments, near misses, tragic mistakes, sad rejoinders. Christensen gamely moves from scene to scene and takes on the personae of this crowd of Caroline’s men who loved her and left her, convincingly rotating personalities with as much assertion as Ferris who anchors down the lonely Caroline. Direction is fast, but not rushed, and the piece is a tumble of memories which pour fourth exactly the way anyone’s will after a bad date and a life of defeated romance.  While the piece doesn’t end happily it does end satisfyingly with a hopeful ellipse for the likable Caroline.

Quick on the heels of this comes a similar tale of a woman who is ready to TKO love; Darcy & Duke (penned by Fox) offers us a woman who is loathe to every note of any love song because of the false promise it hold out. Sitting behind her desk she meets the carefree and likable delivery man, Duke who aims to cajole her out of her defensive attitude and distrustful demeanor. Despite her skittishness Duke finds her likeable enough and talks her into giving love a second look. David Berman is charming as the amiable-everyman who won’t take ‘no’ for an answer and Kathleen Boddington does a fine job of portraying a hopeful woman hidden beneath a veneer of frosty irritability.  While they may not make the perfect couple they have a shot at a few good dates — and sometimes that’s enough to get you to the next relationship.

The last piece of the evening drops the audience off in the afterlife as we witness The Reincarnation of Doe Doe (by Fox). This final act is a bit of whipped cream topping at the end of the evening; sweet and light. Doe Doe – “call me Coco” (Jess Erick) is simply in some mid-point post-existence stop chatting with a divine being named Max (Lorenzo Cambriell0). Part watcher, part gatekeeper, part concierge (part neighborhood gossip) Max seems to know all the moments of Doe Doe’s life and is there to encourage her to choose reincarnation at last and take another chance at living after the heartbreak of the journey she has just finished.  Also in this limbo lounge is Doreen (Misti Tindiglia) the proud mama of Doe Doe the doting mother in every way that both annoys Doe Doe and charms Max. As the story flows out we are given instagram snapshots of a relationship that needed to be seen from 360 in order to be better understood.  Hugs abound, a decision is made, and it all wraps up with a heavenly sigh.

Overall, the general theme that ties these shows together is that, for all its heart and heartbreak,  love is the main goal of life. While we come upon a number of roadblocks along the path to finding it, Acts of Love keeps driving home the fact that the biggest roadblock keeping us from finding any and every type of love is often ourselves.

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Related Posts:

• Acts Of Love – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• The Taint Of Equality Or, I Want Your Sex (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• The Empress of Sex (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• Pageant Princess – Music, Make-Up And Meltdowns (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• SAFE Is A Matter Of Perspective (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)

About fifteen minutes into Duncan Pflaster‘s play, The Empress of Sex, currently showing as part of the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, a dramatic crisis point is reached. A character, Pistos, has confessed to being in love with one of his paramours, Neara. In accord with the rules of the community of which he is a voluntary member, his life is forfeit. Love and partnered exclusivity are forbidden in this realm, and the self-proclaimed ruler, Empress Salacia, condemns him duly to death. Only, well, that would be a trifle harsh, so the sentence is commuted to banishment. Phew! Crisis averted.

The play gallops forward setting up another potentially dramatic situation. The past lover of Salacia, the faithless man who has compelled her to forswear and outlaw love in her domain, is arriving on the scene in a bid to re-seduce her. Agis, now rueful and lovesick for Salacia, seeks to reunite and redress the wrong he did her. He comes disguised as a woman for this mission, and is accompanied by Adrianna, his sister – disguised as a man, and by Coriolanus, his servant – who frankly will brook no disguises. The scene is ripe for farce and you don’t have to have seen a Shakespearean comedy to sense that a mess of confusion and misunderstanding waits to unfold. Which it does at lightening speed. Unchecked desires in this libertine society quickly connect ill-matched characters and  - oddly amongst the licentious acolytes of Salacia – abruptly deepen into forbidden love attachments. But this spells calamity for Salacia and the domain!  Sounds unbelievable?  Pflaster, and director Glory Kadigan, have chosen to create a comical, almost cartoon world, where nothing really has to be believable.

The actors here are playing for laughs, broadcasting desires and emotions with eye-popping and lip-smacking expressions; while the play is billed as “An Erotic Romantic Comedy” this production is obviously shooting for comedy over eroticism. Which brings us to another salient feature of this production: there are many parts in this play (nineteen performers) and there are many parts on display. The nudity is real, but it’s all played for comic effect.

Pflaster, in tandem with Kadigan, may very well be on to some new sub-genre in entertainment – a pastiche camp, a formally hybridized spectacle that despairs of drama, winks at burlesque review, and esteems bingo parlor humor.  The author has acknowledged a debt to theatrical writer Charles Ludlam (of Irma Vep fame) so perhaps there is a case to be made in favor of a more subversive goal here. The author’s fine language is put in the service of effete play acting and arch silliness; the director encourages mugging on the part of actors, while she also assembles the ensemble into tightly co-ordinated group movements that recall almost a Victorian artificial theatricality. The individual performances are heavily enacted in inverted commas. Except, that is, for Catherine LeFrere who plays the Empress.  LeFrere delivers an earnest deadpan performance – even when she is enjoying public cunnilingual congress in her court.  This interposition seems to place her in another play all together; which makes her turn the comedy performance of the evening. This is artifice within artifice.

Other notable contributions are made by Matthew Menendez (Coriolanus), the over actor’s over actor; Kelly Zekas (Neara), who actually comes close to deploying subtlety; and Eric Percival, whose female impersonation is as (intentionally?) bad as his masculine turn as Agis is sweet and winsome. Marissa Bergman offers a camply atmospheric, pared-down set, and Izzy Fields some knowing and comedic costumes.

This is as profound a work as a set of pasties – and as compelling. The curtain is going up and there’s a new 21st Century Faux in town.

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Related Posts:

• The Empress Of Sex – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• The Taint Of Equality Or, I Want Your Sex (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• The 2012 National Newborn Festival Is Almost Here!
• The National Newborn Festival: Celebrating Emerging Playwrights In Style
• Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare, Bama Theatre Company (Fringe Festival 2012)

Strap in folks, and get ready for Pageant Princess, The Musical - a live-action version of that reality show train wreak, Toddlers & Tiaras – only this show is set to music and the girls on the runway are a little taller than knee-high.  But fans of the controversial reality show which runs on TLC will recognize all the things that keep people burning up the chat rooms, wagging their fingers, shaking their heads and coming back for more every season.

There’s a lot that this show gets right – and as a (not so closeted) fan of Toddlers & Tiaras myself I went in hoping to find – and was rewarded with – all the ingredients that make up any good episode of the show.  There is the overly ambitious pageant mom who lives vicariously through her daughter now that she is no longer on the pageant circuit herself.  There’s the bratty child who is self-centered, conceited but – let’s face it – the strongest contender for the crown.  There’s the clueless dad who gets swept up into the game without really understanding all the rules, and his sugar-addicted child who joneses for candy in a way that we only hope is not a precursor to what will one day be a sad relationship with something much stronger.  There are the parents who force their tomboy into a dress because her twin got sick and they already paid for everything (room, dress, entry fee, flipper – watchers of the show know how the costs can mount into the thousands).  There’s the acknowledgement that all this is costing a bundle and the grand prize of $200 is a mere fraction of what it took to get there.  And of course orbiting the whole thing are the pageant coaches, host and judges who live so deeply in this world that the imprint of their own crown leaves a permanent trench in their hair-sprayed weave.  Yup, it’s all there.  But somehow I’m not sure  Pageant Princess, The Musical was ready to win Ultimate Grand Supreme, or even Mini-Grand Supreme this year.  Somehow the final package was just a little off.

When creating an homage it’s easy to toss in the ingredients that echo the original, but with the actual tv show already providing so much raw material to poke fun at it’s not easy to come up with more than a lot of one-dimensional characters who are simply retreads of what any random episode of T&T itself will already bring to the table.  Developing the show as a musical is a novel idea and allowed for several inspired moments (“New Dancin’ Shoes” performed by Staci [Lorelei Mackenzie] and Miss Louisa [Emily Billig] was a show stopper) but also invited several pitfalls.  Some songs such as “Packing Song” were nothing more than several minutes of repetitive lyrics that did little to move the plot along.

When Pageant Princess deviated from the T&T format it rose to the occasion and provided an opportunity to give the characters some complexity to explore.  The storyline of Max (Kristen Penner) was terrific – delving into the heartbreak of the never-seen “other” child – the sibling of the pageant child.  On any other day Max is playing baseball while her twin sister is doing the pageant circuit. Now that her sister’s illness forces her to step into a role she’s uncomfortable with, she’s afforded an opportunity to voice a very strong point (“Max’s Lament”) and highlight what these pageants do to the forgotten family members – something never explored on these reality shows.  Watching that relationship of “other” child and parents deepen and strengthen was probably one of the most rewarding of the show.  I would have liked to have seen this storyline extended in an effort to expand the overall impact and leave audiences with a resounding message.

Other highlights include Susanna Merrick who is fun as the candy addicted Donna Lou but whose role is too one-dimensional to give her much room to shine above the material.

Overall the show has some fun moments and, thanks to the very talented cast who each prove they have flair and ability there is a lot here to be enjoyed.  In the end, however, the scores just aren’t high enough to walk away with the big crown.

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Pageant Princess, The Musical

Benefiting: Adam R. Spector Foundation
Produced by Violet Productions
Music by Joni Ernst
Book by Abigail Taylor
Book, Lyrics, and Music also by Lorelei Mackenzie & Kristen Penner

$18 General Admission
$9.00 for Film/Music Participants
FREE for Theatre Festivity Participants

Tuesday 6/5/12 – 7:00pm = Performance #1
Saturday 6/9/12 – 3:30pm = Performance #2
Sunday 6/10/12 – 1:30pm = Performance #3
Saturday 6/16/12 – 11:00am = Performance #4
Wednesday 6/20/12 – 4:30pm = Performance #5
Saturday 6/23/12 – 11:30am = Performance #6

90 minutes

At Bleecker Street Theatre (Upstairs)
45 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012
Conveniently located near:
Bleecker St (4 & 6)
Broadway – Lafayette St (B, D, F, M)
Prince St (N, R)

click here to purchase tickets

Related Posts:

• Pageant Princess, The Musical – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• The Taint Of Equality Or, I Want Your Sex (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• SAFE Is A Matter Of Perspective (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• Ye Elizabeths: Living Vicariously Because … (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• Deuteranomaly: A One-Act in Two Parts – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)

How do you know when you’re safe?  Is it when you’re home?  Or when your loved ones are around you?  What about when you were a teen … how did you know it then?  There’s no doubt that being a teen-aged girl is a minefield and without the right road map a young girl will find herself in a dangerous, explosive situation.  In the world of Safe playwright Penny Jackson has created just such a minefield for her two young characters, Nina and Liz.  And then she creates a trap for them to run smack into.

There’s a great line that comes around two thirds into the play when one of the characters notes how kids who grow up in Manhattan are like homeless kids … they have homes but no one’s really raising them.  And so it is for Nina (Debby Brand) and her best friend Liz (Alexandra Gjerpen).  When we first meet Nina she’s dejectedly smoking a cigarette in her father’s big apartment, waiting for him to come home from yet another one of his business trips to notice that she’s now living with him.  Apparently she’s been living there alone for two days, but the situation doesn’t seem to unsettle her.  When her father does arrive he greets her perfunctorily, exchanges information much the way (one would think) he instructs his business partners to get him up to speed on a project, and distractedly inquires about her overall well being.  When he acknowledges her smoking, the annoyance that bubbles up is regarding the fact that she was using an antique as an ashtray – not that she was using her lungs as a dumping ground for toxic chemicals.  The best he can muster is a guess that she must be smoking to curb her appetite.

Her dad, Paul, (David Lamberton) is a workaholic who is divorced from Nina’s troubled alcoholic mother who lives in another state.  Paul barely has time to finish a conversation before he’s answering another call, packing up for another trip, and making something else a priority.  Well, at least he isn’t around to make another thoughtless comment about her (non-existent) weight problem.  While one would rather see Nina in a safe haven of a home that has a parent in it, when it comes to this parent, maybe being alone is actually the lesser of two evils.

Young Liz’s home-life is no better; her mother encourages the anorexic/bulimic Liz to smoke pot so that she’ll have the munchies.  Liz is the yin to Nina’s yang, both girls suffering from body issues.  Liz has actually been hospitalized for her disorder which seemed to do nothing but give her an opportunity to explore her sexuality with a boy who was also there – and is no longer around.   On the surface Nina and Liz take these rather jarring events of their young lives in stride, but there’s no denying all these thousand little cuts are taking their toll on each girl’s overall psychological health.  So Nina and Liz do what unmonitored teen girls do best: they drink too much tequila, experiment with dangerous drugs (Liz unearths a hidden stash of Fen-Phen), and … perhaps worst of all, find themselves emotionally vulnerable to the first kind stranger who happens to cross their path.

At first Phillip (Nick Palladino) comes across as a helpful mentor, an understanding adult Nina happens upon in the Starbucks she uses as a place to do her homework and hang out.  Phillip and Nina “meet cute” after she spills her coffee on him.  This leads to some conversation which allows him to offer that, although he is a writer he was once a math tutor which makes it so perfect that she happens to be having trouble with math.  She gets some help with her homework and is in his debt when he chivalrously leaves his umbrella for her.  Like any other young teen she is immediately smitten and begins to fixate on her new friend.

With less and less making her feel safe at home she willingly dives into a burgeoning friendship with Phillip – and with no other adult to warn her off she finds the whole experience romantic and exhilarating.  Even Liz’s admonishment merely sounds like jealousy to Nina’s ears.  Phillip carefully plays his hand – he is understanding, he listens … he cares.  He gives advice and encouragement to the awkwardly shy Nina – he takes her to the museum and compares her to the Rubens.  He points out her beauty and encourages her inner strength.  In the right setting he’d be doing her a world of good.  But that’s what makes him so good at setting the trap.

After presenting a strong cautionary tale with believable circumstances playwright Jackson then leaves the story with a questionable ending with intentions that are undecipherable.   The girls uncover Phillip for what he is, in the wake of which Nina has a near-suicide experience.  All too suddenly she is seen flying off to her unstable mother (who is not expecting her) declaring herself healed and stronger for the experience and ready to take on the world.

This sudden switch feels manufactured and misdirected: the actual actions of Nina seem dangerous and ill-advised, while the sentiment of the ending is played as a happily every after moment.   Perhaps the ending would ring truer for an older woman  … an “I need to go find myself!” anthem, but here it sits as an out-0f-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire situation.  I wasn’t convinced that Nina had grown enough, or that anyone – especially her work-obsessed father – had felt enough of an impact from the devastating chain of events to have learned anything.   Rather than a happy ending, I saw this as a frightening one for this traumatized, confused, lost girl who needs to be parented properly.  Nina needs to be counseled by a man with degrees on his wall, not a string of lies in his past.  I feel that we were meant to be left hoping for Nina, but unfortunately after bringing her so far I feel as if she was simply left abandoned again.

However, aside from the ending, Jackson did an incredible job with the character of Phillip … probably one of the most difficult archetypes to capture.   It was easy to understand why the young, aimless, desperate Nina would find Phillip so charming, so – yes – SAFE.  Nick Palladino did a solid job of making the audience wonder at times if he really was just a misunderstood guy who had a lot of bad breaks and was just looking out for Nina with a platonic warmth.  These are the hardest characters to create and Jackson wrote Phillip with a balanced pen.  Palladino delivers a layered performance and gives the audience room to both understand his charm through the eyes of a teen while still see the red flags through the eyes of an adult.

Joan Kane’s direction is firm throughout; she understands how to coax out the subtle moments which needed to speak louder than the roar of general adolescence.  Some of the most powerful scenes Kane created happened in the quiet seduction, such as when Phillip leaves his umbrella behind for Nina.

Safe, which benefits the National Eating Disorder Association, does a satisfying job of presenting the despair a teen girl with body issues faces – and the lengths she will got to in order to feel safe.  However, as Nina points out – we all look to something to feel safe – be it work, alcohol, pills … it’s all various forms of our need to feel in control.  The real warning here is not just for teens who may fall prey to charming men, but to parents who may put work before their children, to those who try to drink their stress away and find they suddenly can’t get through the day without a drink, or to people who find themselves unhealthily attracted to something that is clearly wrong.  Penny Jackson’s message is explicit – if you’re out of control, get yourself to a place where you can feel Safe.

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Related Posts:

• SAFE – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• BITTEN – One Last Drink
• The Taint Of Equality Or, I Want Your Sex (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• Pageant Princess – Music, Make-Up And Meltdowns (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• Bubby’s Shadow: Whose Shadow Is It? (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)

Ever been in a dead end job and it seemed like you were going nowhere?  Everyday the same routine?  Well the title characters of the play Ye Elizabeths have been doing just that for the last several years – and they couldn’t be happier.  They work as reenactors for the Old Salem Township Living History Museum, and are very content  (at least in a superficial way) with the set routines and repetitive but amusing dialogue they have as historical figures.  They also find comfort in the predictable ways their friendship plays out.  But what happens when the perfect job (dead-end or not) goes away?  Who will they be then? 

As the lights dim and then the spot lights come up again, we are launched suddenly into the world of Ye Elizabeths with a fun musical number outlining the premise of the story.  The two heroines (both named Elizabeth) introduce themselves and their world with expert piano accompaniment by Evan Gregory.

We’re reenacting history
From the 17th century
Through our characters we live vicariously
Because we don’t have lives of our own …

They have adventures (like the time when blood from the chicken slaughterers got in their eye and didn’t go away for a month), and gossip about the newbies.  They endure the curse of Wilawamat, and drool over (or disparage) the popular “Pilgrim Plantation” (a reality show about reenactors of the Pilgrim era which we get to see snippets of via a multimedia component of the show expertly and entertainingly done by Jeremy Mather). They also have numerous competitive verbal jousting matches about who is more desperate in one way or another.  Oh and there’s running. “Running’s our favorite”.

Mockucomedramady should be a term made especially for this show.  It quite successfully walks the fine line between slapstick and broad humor, highlighting the special tension between the two Elizabeths played by  Erin Leigh Schmoyer and Alicia Barnatchez.   One such moment is captured perfectly in the song Break-up which they perform in the climactic scene of the show.  With belting power ballad performed by Alicia  interlaced with the beating drum of Erin eviscerating her with rapid staccato in between her notes, we all hold our breath waiting to see how long the spell of their banishment from each other will take to weave. This is a really fun piece showcasing the talent of all three performers – Schmoyer,  Barnatchez and Gregory.

There are at least 3 strong threads weaving through this play.  There is the musical, which in and of itself is very catchy.  Then there is the mockumentary aspect which follows the same vein as Christopher Guest films.  The final and most thoughtful thread is the actual theme: What does it mean to have “a life”?  If you are feeling trapped, maybe you are.  It’s good to be good at what you do and be comfortable, but sometimes you just need to try something else if you’re going to get anywhere.

Alicia Barnatchez and Erin Leigh Schmoyer (Photo by Mike Gregoreksm)

One of the duo is dubbed “Elizasmith” for her aptitude for historical re-enactment of copper smithing and other tinkering, and the other is called “Elizabox” since she is an oxen interpreter who stands upon  a wood box  for the tourists who come through the stations each day.  She relays what the oxen are trying to communicate (“They don’t speak English”).

Elizasmith (Schmoyer) was born into the job being a “duo” with her mom since she was a baby.  In a way, Elizasmith is the more bitter of the two, but also sharper in many ways usually winning the verbal jousting matches the Elizabeths have with each other.  However, she is definitely much less worldly.

Elizabox (Barnatchez) is passionate for her work, and just wants to be the best at it what she is doing.  She wants to stay happy and stable with her friend who seems even more lost than she is.

One humorous meta-comic joke that recurs is simply the style of acting.  Even though the characters are in love with the idea of living in the times of the Pilgrims, in many ways they would fit more in the times of Vaudeville, what with their slapstick antics. It is almost a neo-Vaudvillian style taking the best of slapstick and inserting other more modern improv techniques.  Director Leah Bonvissuto’s hand is well played as she seamlessly moves from one form of story telling or multimedia expression to another while never missing a beat.

In terms of multi-media, the film clips range in style from that of reality show to classic silent movie which illustrates the duo transitioning from the world of Old Salem Township to the more alien outside world of imaginary motel rooms.  The two co-musical directors, Sarah Gregory and Evan  Gregory incorporate a diverse score – one that includes everything from the classic show tune to a smoky jazz song sung by the piano player during a scene change to a power ballad or two.

Erin Leigh Schmoyer and Alicia Barnatchez (Photo by Mike Gregorek)

Though there were a few rough edges in the production Barnatchez and Schmoyer do a great job showcasing the fun of this show, and Evan and Sarah Gregory have written some charming and amusing songs.

The ending might have been a little too pat, but for Ye Elisabeths it actually worked.  It drove home the message that maybe we can’t expect a perfect happily-ever-after for ourselves like we see in Ye Elizabeths, but we can sure try.

If you’re feeling down, this show is just the thing to perk you up.  It’s definitely funny and energizing, and it’s a little like hiding spinach in brownies: you get something good for you in what you though was just something basic and sweet.

~~~

Ye Elizabeths
Benefiting: Girls, Inc.
Produced by Easter Punny Productions
Written & Performed by Alicia Barnatchez and Erin Leigh Schmoyer
Directed by Leah Bonvissuto

$18 General Admission
$9.00 for Film/Music Participants
FREE for Theatre Festivity Participants

Saturday 6/2/12 – 5:00pm = Performance #1
Thursday 6/7/12 – 7:00pm = Performance #2
Friday 6/15/12 – 8:30pm = Performance #3
Saturday 6/16/12 – 3:00pm = Performance #4
Tuesday 6/19/12 – 8pm = Performance #5

50 minutes

At Bleecker Street Theatre (Upstairs)
45 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012
Conveniently located near:
Bleecker St (4 & 6)
Broadway – Lafayette St (B, D, F, M)
Prince St (N, R)
click here to purchase tickets

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