Theater Reviews: Land of the Tigers, The Projectionist

Also, The Devil With Boobs, Clown Show for Bruno and more

Comments (0) By L.A. Weekly Theater Critics Wednesday, Apr 1 2009

GO CAPTAIN DAN DIXON VERSUS THE MOTH SLUTS FROM THE FIFTH DIMENSION “You are powerful women — you don’t have to use sex as a weapon!” pleads the mutant-brained Dr. Canigulus (Denise Devin) to the alien Vulvulans (“Moth Sluts,” for short), who have invaded the Magellan spaceship. The Magellan has a conservative crew; onboard is a priest (Christopher Aguilar) who prays that their quest serves God’s will. Still, Captain Dan Dixon (Matthew Skylar) and the rest of his men can’t resist the Vulvulans — green, pasties-clad go-go dancers with pneumatic exoskeletons. Led by Empress Syphla (Amanda Marquardt) with the pint-sized Luna (Jonica Patella) as her brute muscle, the ladies quickly hypnotize the crew but for what villainous purpose? Playwright Skylar and director Zombie Joe know the heart of their show beats near Syphla’s gyrating curves, but they’ve generously gone on and given us a show with sharp comic timing and even a half-serious philosophical theme. Though the Vulvulans are technically pestilence, if they look and act like people, would the preemptive extermination Dr. Canigulus demands be genocide? Sure, this is more entertainment than theater, but Zombie Joe and his nonexistent sets always remind me of what I love best about L.A.’s small stages: the scrappy fun of putting up a great show with just a couple costumes and imagination. ZJU Theater Group, 4850 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood; Fri., 8:30 p.m., Sat., 10:30 p.m.; through April 4. (818) 202-4120. (Amy Nicholson)

CLOWN SHOW FOR BRUNO Prolific playwright Murray Mednick’s latest work is inspired by the life and death of the gifted Polish writer and artist Bruno Schulz. A Polish Jew, Schulz eluded the Nazi death camps after becoming the enslaved protégée of a Gestapo officer named Felix Landau. In a cruel twist, Schulz was murdered in 1942 by another Nazi officer after Landau killed the rival’s Jewish dentist. (It’s a “he-killed-my-Jew-so-I’ll-kill-his” scenario.) Touching only obliquely on the actual events, Mednick’s nonlinear play unfolds, quite literally, as a tale told by clowns (Daniel Stein, Bill Celentano and Dana Wieluns, alternating with Kali Quinn). These Harlequins are not your lovable circus types but malevolent jokesters. Eventually the braying trio leaves off taking digs at each other and commences to enact Bruno’s story, using masks in their representations of the artist’s parents and lovers. In many of these scenes, Bruno (Stein) is portrayed as a pathetic wretch, nagged at by his mother and humiliated by the women he desires. Indifferent to its historical elements, the play aims at projecting a broader existential vision: a pitiless world dominated by sadists and fools. Directed by Guy Zimmerman, the stylized performances are skilled but strident and without much texture or affect. There’s no place to put one’s empathy — which may be this surly piece’s bleak and futile message. Art Share Los Angeles, 801 E. Fourth Place, L.A.; Fri.-Sun., 8 p.m.; thru April 18, www.paduaplaywrights.net. (213) 625-1766. (Deborah Klugman)

Jon Beauregard

Land of the Tigers

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GO THE DEVIL WITH BOOBS Director Tom Quaintance and his cast work theatrical magic with this superb staging of Dario Fo’s bawdy satire (in a finely tuned translation by Jon Laskin). Fo is as much a prankster and polemicist as he is a playwright. The action takes place in a town in Northern Italy, where fraud, corruption and vice run amok. However, the staunchly upright Judge Alfonso de Tristano (Michael Winters) is a light amidst the darkness, a man so pure he recoils at the sight of a pair of tits. This situation is intolerable to Master Devil Francipante (the stellar and dangerously funny Phillip William Brock) and his apprentice (Herschel Sparber), so they conspire to possess the judge’s body and spirit. Unfortunately, the plan backfires and the judge’s buxom housekeeper (Katherine Griffith) winds up playing host to the Devil, which causes an eruption of comedy, naughty bits and mayhem. Quaintance provides fluid, intelligent direction, but the cast is flawlessly funny. Even the musical ditties scattered throughout are nicely done (one such number by Brock had me laughing so hard I thought I’d pass out). Cristina Wright’s period costumes and puppets are a riot, and Adam Rowe’s set piece (composed almost exclusively of doors) adds just the right touch. Open Fist Theater, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m, Sun. 3 p.m. through May 16. (323) 882- 6912. (Lovell Estell III)

GO GOLDFISH is the central metaphor in John Kolvenbach’s eloquently written drama about a pair of college students trying to break free of dependent parents. The deepest flaw in the playwriting is that the characters understand and are too articulate about their life problems. This is particularly true of Leo (Conor O’Farrell), a ne’r-do-well gambler who waxes poetically about his dissolute life and his introverted son Albert (Tasso Feldman) — Leo being the Goldfish who would eat himself to death without his child setting proper controls on feeding. Albert carefully engineers his escape from privation to attend an Ivy League school. His shyness allows him to constantly study undisturbed until he captures the attention of beautiful but unstable coed, Lucy (Kate Rylie), who pulls him into a joyous romance. Enter Margaret (Joan McMurtrey) — rich, stately, beautiful and alcoholic, whose corrosive humor usually hides her pain but not her adoration for her daughter Lucy. While all the performances are excellent, McMurtrey’s possesses the grandeur of Marian Seldes. Director Loretta Greco honors the script with a high-velocity production that keeps the audience riveted. Stark but realistic moving set pieces by Myung Hee Cho are aided by Lonnie Rafael Alcaraz’s lighting and Michael Hooker’s sound — all propelling the story without calling attention to themselves. South Coast Repertory 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa; Tues.-Fri.; 7:45 p.m.; Sat.Sun., 2 & 7:30 p.m.; through April 5. (714) 708-5555 or www.scr.org . (Tom Provenzano)