‘Theatre Roulette 2012’: MadLab anthologies a mixed bag
MadLab saves the best playlets for last in the opening bill of its Theatre Roulette 2012.
The annual festival, which rotates three repertory collections of short works through much of May, provides a showcase for the quirky humor and often-subversive themes of playwrights from across the country.
The foolishness and shortsightedness of guys seems a predominant focus of “Snake Eyes,” the first quartet of plays that opened last night at the troupe’s downtown performing space.
MadLab tends to bestow the framing names of each evening in accord with its Roulette gambling theme, but because of all the male stupidity on comic display, a better title for the first night might be “Idiot’s Delight.”
Yet, only the three shorts in the second act prove delightful.
Philadelphia playwright Alex Dremann, who also contributed to three previous Roulettes, returns with a peach of a comedy called The Peach.
Under Andy Batt’s direction, David Thonnings plays Jake, who enjoys killing things for his boss (Chris Lane).
When unquestioning, slow-witted Jake receives a printed message to kill himself, the scenario begins to evoke two of the Three Stooges.
As the stakes rise and confused Jake begins to think he should also kill his boss, The Peach gets even better, evoking absurdist echoes of No Exit or Waiting for Godot.
What guys will do, especially when they don’t know what they’re doing.
With an unusually long and spoofy title like Ten Minutes In The Orchard with Uncle Vanya’s Sister and her Seagull, seasoned theatergoers are well primed to appreciate British playwright Gary Dooley’s comic condensation of the plays of Anton Chekhov.
Under the nimble direction of Jennifer Feather Youngblood, Michelle Batt, Jeff Potts and Jason Sudy switch deliriously between multiple roles to heighten the farce.
The play definitely lives up to its tite: Within 10 minutes, the actors race through through tragedy, class issues and love affairs in pre-revolutionary Russia.
Although this parody isn’t revolutionary – Christopher Durang, among other talents, paved the way years ago with better spoofs of classics – the laughs are frequent enough. Plus, the piece works well even for those not as familiar with Chekhov’s classics.
In Gary Dooley’s DATENAV, a futuristic gadget adds fresh humor to the classic plight of a clueless man (Josh Kessler) trying to boost his first-night chances with his date (Audrey Rush).
Relying too much on a hidden earplug and the voice (Youngblood) of a computerized advice program, the man turns a dismal evening into a disaster.
Under Aran Carr’s direction, Kessler and Rush find humor and pathos in their lack of chemistry. This short delivers an especially neat twist.
The less-successful first act, which includes video previews of shorts in the other two evenings, is dominated by The Waiting Room. North Carolina playwright Steven Shapiro struggles to sustain a surreal comedy-drama about happiness, anxiety, love, loss and an unusual form of psychotherapy.
David Thonnings is convincing as Peter, a regular guy pushed by a stranger (Wray Withers) to reveal more about himself while waiting for his first session with a new therapist.
Director Jim Azelvandre maintains a good rhythm, but the play is overlong and fails to overcome its implausible premise and predictable final twist.
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