How
About Some Lamb With That Lobster?
Hunter Gathers by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb
Reviewed by Ed Brownson
We'll keep this short: Killing My
Lobster's production of Hunter Gatherers
has been extended through July 23 at San
Francisco's Thick House and the word must be spread.
Go see this play. You will witness appalling behavior, laugh out loud, wince with
painful recognition, maybe be a bit outraged here and there, but you will not
be bored. Here's the skinny:
The
story: In a typical 90s
San Francisco loft
live Pam and Richard. Richard (Jon Wolanske) is a meat-obsessed Alpha Male, Pam
(Melanie Case) is a woman getting by in a desk job, lacking (gasp! horror!) any
ambition to be a mom. They await the arrival of high school friends Wendy the
Fecund (Alexis Lezin) and Tom (John Kovacevich), her repressed husband and
self-labeled doctor. Now in their thirties, this is the night of their annual
nostalgia dinner. The four gather, share midlife crises, guzzle blood-red wine
and emit long, bizarre toasts, raise and dispute and skewer ISSUES, have
inappropriate sex, wreck marriages, kill, and consume meat. Don't worry: in the
world of this play, it all makes perfect sense.
The
cast: The performances
are hilariously over the top. Wolanske's Richard is appalling and funny and not
a little trying in his über-male behavior. One could argue his take on Richard is
one-note but Richard's kind of man is one note and how do you bring
depth to something defined by its lack? Lezin's Wendy is a marvelously deft
performance, with timing so spot-on she brings to mind Hollywood's great comediennes. She's absolutely
fearless in her acting; the audience is constantly straining to see what she
does next. Case's Pam and Kovacevich's Tom pale next to Richard and Wendy but then
Pam's and Tom's "beta" types pale in the real world too. Both actors do well
enough with their roles, but their characters need clarifying. We know what
motivates Richard and Wendy (we think we do, anyway) but we're not so sure
about Pam and Tom.
The
production: Director
Tracy Ward clearly gets the play and brings out the best in Nachtrieb's writing
and the actors. There are problems with choreography, particularly in the fight
scenes – there's a lot of battling in Hunter
Gatherers – and a few transitions could be more fluid; otherwise it's a job
well done. Eric Flatmo's dual level trompe
l'oeil set, eerily duplicating the lofts in the complex where the Thick
House theater is located is so integral to the play it's easy to miss just how
subversive it is, mocking the very crowd that supplies most of the audiences.
It is hard to imagine a better set for this play.
The
play: Probably the
most amazing thing about Hunter Gatherers
is that KML's production is its world premiere. The script has the polish and
skill of a seasoned work. Yes, there are flaws: Tom and Pam's characters are weak;
the opening scene is muddled though it's easy to miss given what's happening on
stage (sorry; you'll have to find out yourself); and the "meaning" tacked onto the
ending is both obscure and unnecessary. Nachtrieb is a clever and witty writer;
his play is easily equal to many acclaimed plays making the rounds these days.
There are few guilty pleasure more
delightful than watching people's pretensions get skewered, and no pretensions
are more worthy of skewering these days than those culturally assigned
man-woman gender based behaviors which seem to be back in vogue. If you want to
watch everybody's favorite love-to-hate gender stereotypes get their due, if
you want to laugh at a play that is actually funny with humor geared to adults
go see Hunter Gatherers.
END
[Hunter
Gatherers plays at the Thick House, Potrero Hill, San Francisco through July 23. Tickets: www.killingmylobster.com]
Bio & Past Articles
Past Articles
|
On Stage Now!
Theater Reviews by Ed Brownson
Ed Brownson has been writing for the stage for eight years. His plays have been performed in the U.S. and Europe. Recent productions include his one-acts Another Ache and Soul’s Rust as part of Teatro Del Navile’s UAI Festival in Bologna, Italy, May, 2005, and The Dictionary Play in San Francisco’s Bay One-Acts (BOA) Festival, February, 2005. An evening of his short plays is scheduled in Italy in September. Also an essayist, Ed’s meditation on aging and mountains, Fifty at Ten Thousand Feet, was honored by Literary Traveler as part of their Summer Essay contest in 2002. He is currently editing a collection of essays on California titled California / Off Topic: Notes On A State Of Mind, scheduled for release in Spring, 2006. In various previous and parallel lives, Ed is/was a technical writer, a cyclist, cat attendant, and self-proclaimed computer geek. Reach Ed at ed.brownson@bettyslist.com. Read more of his writings at www.edbrownson.net.
|
|
