Dobama Theatre: The Walworth Farce

(Written by Edna Walsh; Directed by Mark Moritz; at Dobama's Lee Road Theatre in Cleveland Heights through October 3rd)

The character of Haley, well played by Carly Germany, spends most of the second half of The Walworth Farce as an unwitting hostage trying to escape from a demented family's flat. The longer the play the progressed, the more closely I related to Haley with one major exception: She was able to leave.

While calling The Walworth Farce the least compelling legitimate play I've ever seen is undoubtedly an overstatement, it is certainly the least compelling in recent memory. Perhaps it was because I was expecting something funny and entertaining -- Wikipedia defines farce as "a comedy which aims to entertain the audience..." -- and perhaps I should have taken the The Simpson's episode I watched last night as a harbinger* in this respect -- but aside from some very quiet chuckles at the beginning [i.e. before a line of dialog was spoken] it struck me as neither funny nor entertaining.

I can't really fault the actors -- who seemed to be doing the best they could with the material given, but I also hate to lay 100% of the blame on the script. Perhaps most telling, during intermission--where a portion of the audience explicably disappeared--I overheard the following exchange between a group of older women in front of me:

"It's a play about...?"
"Well, that's a good question. I can't say."
"It's dark"
"Yeah, it's dark"

That seemed to be general consensus: I certainly couldn't tell you what the play was about with any level of specificity beyond a deranged family. I can't tell you what the moral was -- if there was one -- nor do I feel any different about a particular issue or the world in general. I felt no call to action, no desire to do anything but get the hell out. I left the theater as I entered with one major exception: My wallet is $25 lighter.

Well, it wasn't all bad: The actors all pulled off 'deranged' well and Ms. Germany's Hayley was convincingly terrified. Ron Newell's set was both superbly detailed and one of the more visually interesting of recent memory which at least made the 2-hour show slightly less painful to sit through.

Lincoln
*- Any Given Sundance, to be specific, but I can't the exact quote from Marge. The gist: Don't trust titles.

Dobama Theatre: Speech & Debate

To shamelessly steal a line near the end of Speech & Debate, at Dobama Theatre through April 4th, "I encourage you to show up with an open mind. If you go to listen, you will leave talking"

Attempting to summarize Stephen Karam's Speech and Debate without giving away the plot is impossible to do while rendering proper justice to the tremendously witty play featuring the trio of Nick Pankuch's Howie, Nicholas Varricchio's Solomon, and Shelby Bartelstein's Diwata along with Elizabeth Ann Townsend filling the adult roles of Teacher and Reporter.

Beginning with Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, Speech and Debate catches that audience's attention and then holds it through the 2-hour intermission-less performance that feels much shorter. Essentially you expect that the often-referenced but never seen drama teacher's secrets will be revealed, but along the way each of the teens own secrets are revealed culminating in a three-way blackmail triangle that the wonderfully frumpy Diwata leverages to forward her agenda of a speech and debate club, while touching social taboo, prejudice, teenage angst and any number of other items (Arthur Miller's The Crucible as a musical! Schools that will alter plays to suit conservative taste while ignoring the author's intent and creative control!*).

It's funny, it's musical, it's thought provoking. It's entertaining. I felt as though I was watching through a hallway window outside the classroom: Without immersion it was quite easy to remain emotionally detached from all of the characters, yet it is one of the better, more entertaining dramas I've seen in several years. It's not too bad as a camp musical either.

Directed by Scott Plate; Now through April 4th / $22 adults / $10 students. Dobama Theatre, 2340 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights.

Lincoln
* - Personal connection: My senior year of high school we produced The Who's Tommy, a rock opera based on the concept album (Pinball Wizard, etc.) -- for political reassons the character of the Gypsy was cut entirely (along with the song Acid Queen: "I'm a Gypsy, an acid queen, pay me before we start"), leaving a bit of a hole. Yours truly did "lighting design", intelligent lighting programming, conventional lighting programming, and bench repair for that show. It was fun.

Dobama: Gutenberg: The Musical

This is a play I really, really, really wanted to like. I can't say that I hated it, and parts were certainly enjoyable but on balance the script left me mildly annoyed. I know the show has a little bit of a cult following... but I didn't get what makes it cult worthy [then again, the same can probably be said for the number of times I've seen Spring Awakening].

It is, in essence, a musical about the making of an historical fiction musical based on Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. With a Holocaust, love story, and a few random dance breaks thrown in for good measure.

I've been interested in seeing Gutenberg since I saw it on Dobama's schedule but I've been saving it for this weekend because this weekend it is literally the only performing arts show to be seen (at least from the various postcards, season schedules, and emails I get) in Cleveland.

Perhaps I'm not as big of a musical theater fan as I consider myself (though I did get the foreign-language What You Own from Rent and One Night in Bangkok from the little-known Chess, a collaboration between the guys from ABBA and Tim Rice and show that I did lighting design/programming for in Southern California among the pre-show music) but I only got a handful of references to other theater.

Essentially, the gimmicks ran long but were never funny for more than the initial punch. While exuberantly acted and overacted (as apparently required by the script) the pacing and overacting was uneven and the gimmick, as with the hat gimmick to a lesser extent, didn't wear well on me. It was clear that I was seeing a carefully rehearsed play rather than a spur-of-the-moment creation (as contrasted with B-W's production of [Title of Show] back in May)

That being said I had not previously considered "Musical" and "Dobama" in the same thought; while not a full fledged musical by any stretch it was interesting to see Dobama produce a play with music.

Overall: "Eh"

Lincoln

Dobama: Ten More Minutes from Cleveland

My initial perception was that "Ten More Minutes from Cleveland" was another of "The Cleveland Plays". I'm honestly not sure if it is -- I don't think it is.

In any event, I was lured out based on three criteria: The fact that Dobama's new home is literally just down the street from me, I had nothing better to do, and I wanted to make sure I didn't miss one of the Cleveland Plays, having seen the first two (actually, the only two Dobama plays I've seen).

I was not disappointed. It was presented a thoroughly funny romp through Cleveland and in some places struck too close to home. Being a non-native Cherise's plight particularly resonated -- and the incredulous "You moved to Cleveland from [Arizona in her case, California in mine]!?!?!" line is an all-too common one. I'm honesltly suprised at the number of Clevelanders who think that there's nothing good about this city.

It just kind of worked; I can't pinpoint one particular actor, scene, technique but it all of fit togehter.

Dobama's new home is both convenient and comfortable; I have a feeling that I will be attending most of the season's productions.