Theater Reviews: Sexy Laundry, Stupid Kids

Also, Frozen, Robots vs. Fake Robots

Comments (0) By L.A. Weekly Theater Critics Monday, Feb 18 2008

...continued from page 2

THEATER PICK SEXY LAUNDRY In the American premiere of Michele Rimi's look at making love in middle age, Alice Lane (Frances Fisher) brings her reluctant husband, Henry (Paul Ben-Victor), along with a copy of Sex for Dummies, to a fabulously expensive hotel in hopes of rekindling their romance. From the start, Joel Daavid's production design is striking, creating the hotel's lush atmosphere with a beautiful blend of naturalistic detail and minimalism. Despite such sexy surroundings, Alice and Henry's conversation quickly degenerates into a series of arguments about everything from the thin towels to fantasies of seduction by Italian baristas. While their sparring provides much hilarity, between the barbs are painful and touching moments of a couple scraping the dark corners of their marriage. Their digs at each other bring to mind George and Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? but their tenderness, as well as the play's economy, sets them apart from the famously tormented pair in Albee's marital slugfest. Both Fisher and Ben-Victor are masterful in their roles, embodying characters who have us in stitches one minute and teary-eyed the next. Gary Blumsack's direction is equally nuanced and dynamic, using the entire stage and allowing the characters to live and breathe in between lines. The only minor drawback is Christopher Game's cinematic musical underscoring, which distracts from the verbal fireworks. Hayworth Theatre, 2509 Wilshire Blvd., Westlake; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; thru March 16. (213) 389-9680. (Mayank Keshaviah)

STADIUM DEVILDARE: BATTLE FOR G*DZILLA X Playwright Ruth Margraff's engrossing, surreal opus is an ungodly anime-style love child of Finnegans Wake and American Gladiators. And, although the piece's narrative imperfections and marginally impenetrable writing style threaten to overburden the show, the creativity of co-directors Richard Werner and Karen Jean Martinson's production makes for jaw-droppingly weird fun. At the Stadium Devildare, the world's superhero warriors battle for the right to win the mighty Suit of Guts and Glory. With rivals including the diabolical Frank Zappa-mustachioed Dazzler Brothers (Justin Brinsfield and Jennifer Ann Evans) and Lone Wolf Reiko (Hiwa Bourne, resplendent in a Xena cave-lady outfit), hunky American hero Game Boy Palaiologoi (Jonathan Klein) has his work cut out for himself. During the play's best moments, Werner and Martinson ensure that the stage crackles with bizarre incidents. In one battle, the Dazzler Brothers wield a gigantic, comical cardboard bulldozer that crushes all in its path, and during another, a seemingly random audience member is yanked out of her seat to be devoured by a gigantic anime snake. Unfortunately, Margraff's dialogue suffers from disjointed, dense and needlessly talky verbiage, which veers from non sequiturs to ham-fisted mock-Japanese poetry. Still, the hilarious ensemble work boasts exciting turns from Brinsfield and Evans — while the romance that develops between Game Boy and Lone Wolf is unexpectedly tender. Theatre of NOTE, 1517 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Hlywd.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; thru March 22. (323) 856-8611. (Paul Birchall)

Eric Curtis

Sexy Laundry

Kurt Boetcher

Stupid Kids

More About

GO STUPID KIDS Playwright John C. Russell might have been a fly on the wall in the school cafeteria when he wrote this endearing and insightful teen drama about sex and power in a suburban American high school, aptly named Joe McCarthy High. Jim (Michael Grant Terry) and Judy (Tessa Thomson) are two blessedly beautiful people, attracted to each other and with enough quirkiness to keep them from running with the herd. The pair tread the borders of peer acceptance by befriending two outsiders, Neechee (Ryan Spahn) and Kimberly (Kelly Schumann). Gay and "geeky," the latter are smart, sensitive would-be poets. The affections of all get tested when the ruling school clan — led by Judy's discarded ex-boyfriend — demands that Jim and Judy cut their ties to their loyal friends, as well as undergo ritual humiliation, before being accepted into the in-crowd. Directed by Michael Matthews, the four-person ensemble is spot-on from first moment to last — each crafting a distinct and beguiling persona. Indeed, scanning the predominantly aging audience, I saw many, like myself, recalling their own vulnerable juvenescence, with its roller-coasting blend of exuberant narcissism, raging hormones and emotional volatility. The piped-in rock & roll sounds canny, but Marvin Tunney's choreography furnishes yet another plus, with one solo gambol by Thompson being a special treat. Celebration Theatre, 7051-B Santa Monica Blvd., Hlywd.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; thru March 23. (323) 957-1884 or www.celebrationtheatre.com. (Deborah Klugman)

VOICES FROM OKINAWA There must be merit in John Shirota's study of an American (one-quarter Okinawan) who's teaching English in the land of his great-grandfather, but I found it shrouded in the sentimentality of old-world mysticism and the well-trod humor from cultural divides, as Jama Hutchins (the ingratiating Joseph Kim) tries to get his shy students to tell their stories in English, which leads to painfully expansive recitations in Pidgin English. Under Tim Dang's direction, we see the mostly muted and occasionally open hostility toward U.S. troops, against the story-in-the-wind of an Okinawan girl being raped by an American GI. This confrontation would seem a perfect opening for an examination of Okinawan-vs.-American sensibilities, but Shirota and Dang settle for the soft-shoe belief that a mystery can be fathomed with a kind of storytelling where conflict is muted beyond recognition. This play isn't merely delicate, it's inert. Amy Hill turns in a sweet rendition of Hutchins' 90-some-year-old distant relative, who is both feisty and wise, naturally. East West Players, 120 Judge John Aiso St., Little Tokyo; Wed.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; thru March 9. (213) 625-7000. (Steven Leigh Morris)