Your mother was at The Triad on W. 72nd street.
She yelled, strong-armed, and whipped the family through the paces of a holiday dinner. In the end, you were lucky to leave with your sanity, much less
dignity. Sound familiar? It is, but it's never been this funny. You might question why anyone would want to attend, much less pay to watch the mental
abuse of a family reunion, but in the case of "Da-Show Must Go On," two one-act plays by Ken Dashow at the triad (formerly Steve McGraw's), the heat of old wounds and
anger left unsaid is used to cook a hilarious thanksgiving meal for all attending.
"Da-Show...," begins with "time out," a truly inventive theatre piece about the last three minutes of a college basketball
game. The Haverman College "Devil Dogs" were finally beating their dreaded arch-rivals, the "Fighting Fuchsia" of Ausley college. But a fifteen point lead is
slowly slipping away, and so is the sanity of their leader, Coach Felton. As player after player fouls out of the game, the coach is forced to put in the last man on
the bench: Jamie Krebs.
Staged with just two actors and an unseen play by play announcer to drive the proceedings, the game and its
players, crowd, and referee are brought to life through the miming and visualizations of Lee Leonard (the Coach) and Neal King (Krebs). The plot may be the game, but
soon we realize the play is about these two people: stereotypes on the surface, but pained and passionate underneath. Coach Felton teeters between the cool
professionalism of Pat Riley and violent hysteria of Bobby Knight. Jamie Krebs is everyone picked last in the school yard. Everyone who wanted to contribute
more than he or she was allowed, and not given any respect - the little brother, told he was lucky enough just to be part of the group, much less offer contributions.
Krebs finally gets in the same game with the outcome on the line; I won't ruin it with the results, but the ending is both poignant and
funny. The play speaks to inarticulate feelings and desires, which is also the subject of "thanks," the aforementioned conclusion to the evening.
The Lester family has come home to Mom's house for thanksgiving, Carol, the eldest daughter fights with a rapier like tongue, she has to in order
to survive the slings and arrows of husband, Big Jack, and Mom's full frontal assaults. Younger |
sister Googie, who can do no wrong, and her slightly simple but less
sincere boyfriend, Arnie, only exacerbate the tension between a family that can no longer communicate. When Richard, the wayward son, returns from Tibet with long
hair and a new name, "Rasheed", he derails this three wheel cart of a family off the road and into the ditch completely.
The humor is
fast-paced and hilariously funny, with Mom's unyielding mental cruelty the consistent highlight of the evening ("listen, Missy, Googie brought a pie because she loves me;
you brought a pie because you knew I needed ice.") On the particular evening I was there, the actors had to stop numerous times for the laughter and applause to
die down - it was the laughter of recognition, and of all the comebacks we wish we could say but never have the guts to verbalize.
Dashow's ear for dialogue is stellar - the exchanges are crisp and vehemently true to life. The cast of Lee Leonard, Neal King, Bonnie Comley, Anita Whitney, Jim B.
Gardiner and Vicky Barone give a fine ensemble performance. Ms. Barone in particular, as the matriarch of this dysfunctional household, gives a tour-de-force
performance without relying on all the tired "overbearing-mother" gimmicks that parade before our eyes in TV sitcomland night after night.
The
material may be familiar ground, but the performances are fresh and fun. Mr. Dashow's writing and directing are tightly focused - maybe that Norman Rockwell family
never did exist; but the Lesters are the reality of the 1990's: love buried beneath indifference and pain that's never addressed. It makes for a great evening
of theatre, and you won't feel so guilty about not having called your mother.
Da Show must Go On returns to the Triad (158 West 72nd Street)
this October. For reservations and information call (212) 799 4599. |
