ABSINTHE, OPIUM, AND MAGIC; GAY APPAREL: A CHRISTMAS CAROL, THE HOUSE OF BESARAB

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Comments (0) By L.A. Weekly Theater Critics Wednesday, Dec 9 2009

GO ABSINTHE, OPIUM, AND MAGIC 1920s Shanghai is the setting of Debbie McMahon’s wonderfully environmental tour de force of clowning, dancing and blood, which evokes, with ferocious imagination, not just a bygone era but also the atmosphere of the Grand Guignol. Upon arrival at the theater, we are ushered into an antechamber outside the actual auditorium, which has been set up to resemble a Shanghai bazaar. There are sallow-eyed maidens serving tea — and also warm absinthe, strained through sugar, Thomas De Quincey–style. The scent of the absinthe wafts through the entire theater, melding with dry ice and creating a mood that elegantly mixes pleasure and decay. The play’s first act, “Sing Song Girl Sings Last Song,” is a haunting ballet of despair, involving a cast that includes jaded “Sing Song Girl” prostitute Bright Pearl (Tina Van Berckelaer), a young virgin protégé (Amanda Street) who dreams of becoming Top Whore, and calculating Madame Old Bustard (Dinah Steward), who plots to sell the virgin to be raped and mutilated by a piglike mobster (Roy Starr). Anchored by Debbie McMahon’s pleasingly melodramatic choreography, the dance tackles a compelling story of rage, despair and vice. Steward’s charmingly sinister Old Bustard steals every scene she’s in — but Street’s scheming, loathsome virgin is a standout as well. Act 2’s vignette, Chris Bell’s “The Cabinet of Hands,” is a gripping horror tale, with a sharp twist of quirky humor. A prissy young French couple (Robin Long and Zachary Foulkes), vacationing in Shanghai, gets more than they bargain for when they go slumming at the opium den owned by a seemingly kind old woman (Kevin Dulude). As the thrill-seeking Westerners get happily stoned on The Dragon’s Tail, the old woman’s diabolical true nature shows through. The final scene consists of a jaw-dropping gorefest that will have you simultaneously howling with terror and laughter (while slipping your hands in your pockets for safekeeping). Dulude’s wicked old woman is the perfect embodiment of mysterious evil — and the horrific fate of Long’s ill-fated naif hilariously suggests an anti-drug teaching moment that’s very effective. Art/Works Theatre, 6569 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; check Web site for added perfs; through January 3. brownpapertickets.com/event/82322. Grand Guignolers and [via] Corpora Performance R& D House production. (Paul Birchall)

Mark Bennington

Absinthe Opium & Magic

Courtesy of Blank Theatre Company

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GO ACCOMPLICE: HOLLYWOOD Part game, part theater, part tour: It all begins with a phone call disclosing a secret meeting location. Aided by clues and mysterious cast members strewn throughout various locations, such as street corners, bars, iconic landmarks and out-of-the-way spots, the audience traverses the city streets, piecing together clues of a meticulously crafted plot. Various Hollywood Boulevard locations, schedule varies. accomplicetheshow.com. (Steven Leigh Morris) See Theater feature

GO GAY APPAREL: A CHRISTMAS CAROLA gay comedy with universal appeal, adapter Jason Moyer’s entertaining spoof of Dickens’ classic imagines Scrooge as a prominent fashion designer who at one time turned his back on true love when he opted for money and success. In this scrambled parody, the bitchy, mean-spirited Scrooge (John Downey III) heads the S&M (Scrooge and Marley) Fashion House, where he mistreats his loyal employee, Bob (Moyer), while spurning the familial overtures of his good-hearted lesbian niece, Belinda (Mandi Moss). Meanwhile, Dickens’ martyred innocent, Tiny Tim, has metamorphosed into invalid Uncle Tim (Leon Acord). When Christmas Past (Moss) shows up (first as one of a trio of Afro-bewigged dancers from the ’70s), she ushers back memories of Scrooge’s childhood, when his Dad (Acord) reviled him as a sissy boy for drawing dresses. Later, an enticing Christmas Present (Christopher Grant Pearson) appears in the guise of an Alpine lad — but Scrooge’s overtures are met with a no-no. Co-directed by Moyer and Lauralea Oliver, the show is bedecked with camped-up Christmas songs and designer Jennifer C. Smith’s comical costumes. The bare set and rudimentary lighting design detract a bit from the spectacle, and Downey’s miser is too thinly caricatured, even for satire, but the performances in the rest of this adept and versatile ensemble amply compensate. Lyric-Hyperion Theater, 2106 Hyperion Ave., Silver Lake; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; through December 20. (800) 838-3006. (Deborah Klugman)

GO THE GROUNDLINGS HOLIDAY SHOW The infamous troupe opens this year’s Christmas sketches (plus a token Hanukkah bit) by taking the audience back to 1978, where a variety-show host announces the evening’s very special lineup, including two mimes, Kowalski and his Amazing Wrench, and a prostitute with a spoon. What follows is equally random: A boss’ niece is frozen in grunge-mad 1993 after too much booze at the office party (cell phones send her into a thrashing panic); a newscaster throttles an orphan who’s overdosed on cookies; and a Cirque du Soleil minotaur re-enacts the invention of snow, which involves him thrusting his white-spandexed crotch at a paralyzed audience member. Ted Michaels’ direction amps the physical comedy to epileptic heights, causing the crowd to shake with laughter during the performance I attended. As if to ground the evening, two improv segments spun from audience suggestions were set in the mundane terrain of Rent-A-Center and Mattress Giant — both strip-mall spots were mined for gold. The Groundlings are the best local gang for girl performers, as Stephanie Courtney and Charlotte Newhouse shine in odd, inventive roles; not once were they hemmed in by any dull girlfriend foil. Among a strong cast, Mitch Silpa was the most go-for-broke, and was rewarded with guffaws. Groundling Theater, 7307 Melrose Ave., L.A.; Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 8 & 10 p.m.; through December 19. (323) 934-9700. (Amy Nicholson)