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BACKSTAGE WEST (CRITIC'S PICK!): (Angela Phipps
Towle)
Sure, we all know the stories of Hansel and Gretel and Cinderella,
but what about Godfather Death and The Jew Among the Thorns?
The stories in Grimm! are not sanitized Disney versions of well-trodden
fairy tales. They are nine delightful, obscure, at times funny,
at times disturbing, original Grimms' tales, unearthed from the
archives of the German brothers' writings and richly adapted
to the stage by the Sacred Fools Theater Company.
What I must applaud most about the play (although there were
many wonderful performances, lyrical writing, and lively choreography)
is the original music. I was struck by how much the scoring,
performed by an orchestra of six, enhanced the performances and
the overall feeling of the play. Brenda Varda's original compositions
add dramatic tension, playful comedic tones, and a counterpoint
to the action.
I loved the use of the cello, for example, in The Old Man and
His Grandson, in which it accentuates the movements of the old
man's unsteady hand. Varda also adapted A Thing Called Moon,
a beautiful tale about four travelers who steal the moon. It
is the only tale that is sung (with a lovely lead vocal by Atim
Udoffia).
A light-hearted first act brings us the humorous story of a
rich brother and a poor brother whose fates turn on the comings
and goings of a giant turnip (Tara-Beth Conolly). I also enjoyed
The Cat and Mouse in Partnership, with Kirstin Burbank as the
sexy but gullible mouse and Bil Garrity as the naughty kitty.
John Wuchte was also a delight as the Flounder (aka an enchanted
prince) in The Fisherman and His Wife.
The tone of the second half is decidedly more serious, with
the first piece, The Jew Among the Thorns, reminding us that
the Grimms' tales are not always politically correct and can
indeed be shocking to a modern audience. Written by Haynes Brooke,
directed by Ben Davis, and choreographed by Brian Frette, the
finale, Godfather Death, has the largest cast and the highest
production value, and it is suitably enchanting and spooky.
The charm in this production of lesser-known Grimms' fairy tales
has not only to do with a talented ensemble cast and, as I mentioned,
wonderful musical accompaniment, but with stories that are inherently
alluring and captivating.
LA WEEKLY (recommended!): (Luis Reyes)
The Sacred Fools company scores points just for mounting a show
in which 10 different directors and writers take dramaturgical
risks — whether it be working with a story bereft of any
clear ending (and for that matter, moral) or taking more traditionally
structured stories into new terrain. But aside from the project’s
novelty, the playlets also work well.
“The Cat & Mouse in Partnership” is a tale of
two rivals learning to live with each other, which director Jessica
Schroeder and adapter Joshua Rebell turn into a blues-scored
commentary on modern relationships. “A Thing Called Moon,” about
a group of travelers stealing Luna, is told through a performance
dance piece adapted into song by Brenda Varda and directed by
Mark T.J. Lifrieri.
Ben Davis stages the evening’s intoxicating, supernatural
closer, “Godfather Death” — adapted by Haynes
Brooke and creatively staged. John Rosenfeld as Death keeps the
piece grounded with his compassionate portrayal of the Reaper.
The evening engages, aided by live music composed and directed
by Varda.
ACTORSITE (Kevin Delaney)
Way back in the 18th century, long before the invention of the "happy
ending," brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm collected folk
tales for children that often doubled as lessons in morality
-- with dark themes that can seem startling to a modern audience.
Snow White and Cinderella can thank the Grimms for making them
household names, but the prolific brothers also published a number
of tales which the hand of time has not been as kind to. Nine
of those lesser-known stories have been adapted for the stage
for the Sacred Fools' Grimm!
The evening begins with a spoken/sung introduction by keyboardist
Brenda Varda, whose small orchestra provides wonderful accompaniment
throughout the show. (Varda also composed all of the program's
music.)
"The Fisherman and His Wife" is the first of the stories,
with a hysterically funny John Wuchte as an enchanted flounder
who can grant wishes, and Jihad Harik as a fisherman whose wife
just can't get enough of the fish's magic.
In "The Willful Child," the versatile Bruno Oliver
makes the first of several appearances, here as the somber narrator
of a tale in which a little girl (Laura Esposito) dies and is
buried -- only to have her arm keep reaching up through the ground.
Her mother (Tara-Beth Conolly) provides the surprisingly simple
solution: Whack it off with a stick. The playlet makes clear
that not all of the Grimm's stories have a clear "moral" attached
to them (a criticism leveled against them when they were first
published).
"The Cat and Mouse in Partnership" is a clever adaptation
of a tale in which a feline and rodent (Bil Garrity and Kirstin
Burbank) scheme a way to store away some food -- but the cat
gets hungry and decides to dip into the supply. The cat and mouse
are portrayed as a young cohabitating couple, dealing with issues
of trust. Garrity's cat-like movements are particularly amusing.
The short & sweet "The Old Man and His Grandson," is
the only story I was previously familiar with. Author Erik Atwell's
twist at the end defines the term "comedy." "The
Turnip" is an epic of sorts, in which Mikhail Blokh is a
poor man who grows an extraordinary vegetable -- and receives
a great reward from the king (Jihad Harik). The extraordinary
Bruno Oliver is his rich brother who hatches a plan to get even.
Blokh returns in "The Jew Among the Thorns" as a man
who discovers an enchanted creature (Laura Esposito) who gives
him a violin with magical powers. As the title implies, the piece
is ultra-un-P.C.., but it's an example of the kinds of prejudices
that were prevalent in less enlightened times.
"A Thing Called Moon" is a beautiful musical/dance
piece written by Brenda Varda, about stealing the moon. The bizarre "Tales
About Toads" has Erynn Dalton as a little girl and Laura
Esposito performing a charmingly funny toad puppet who's trying
to get her to eat... or... something like that. Perhaps something
has been lost in the translation (or maybe LSD has been around
a lot longer than previously thought), but it's still funny even
if it doesn't make much sense.
"Godfather Death" is the ominous closer, in which
John Williams plays a father who is looking for a godfather for
his newborn son. He encounters God and the Devil, but decides
on Death (a positively creepy John Rosenfeld). I'm not sure which
is more disturbing: Rosenfeld's portrayal of the Grim Reaper,
or the fact that this ultra-macabre story comes from a collection
titled Nursery and Household Tales. The Fools have done it again.
Check it out -- and maybe have a nightlight ready for sleeping
afterward.
What the Critics said about
GRIMM, TOO!
All new! more of the REAL stories of the Brothers Grimm
developed, co-written, & produced for the Met Theatre by
George Larkin
Developed, co-written & produced for the Met Theatre by
George Larkin,
in January 2003, the play received a
Backstage West honorable mention GARLAND for writing and
5 L.A. Weekly Award nominations (for writing and directing).
BACKSTAGE WEST (Dany Margolies)
There's literal, and then there's literal. And therein lies
a tale‚ or 10 tales in this case. These reworkings of the
Brothers Grimm's tiny morality tales do nothing so much as reflect
the talents of their respective creative teams. That a hanky
gets "carried off by a stream" when actors fold and
remove that stream of silky turquoise cloth is literal staging
that thrills... Dialogue that clips along as if led by an offstage
conductor enlivens the storytelling...
At Grimm's spectacular best, Wayne Peter Liebman's delectable
rendering of "The Goosegirl" is narrated by the characters
Book-It style, fully charged by director L. Flint Esquerra's
whimsical staging and seamless storytelling that even melds with
its opening and closing blackouts. This is controlled silliness:
Visual puns toy with the language, while actors take no step
unless it is ripe with life, purpose, and humor. Meredyth Hunt's
charmingly embellished portrayal of a princess seems even better
when paired with Eric J. Stein's larger-than-life oaf; Mikhail
Blokh's sad-sack Horse canters in cahoots with the saucy princess
and her nefarious sidekick (Lise Hart). Stephanie Northrup's
take on The Elements is crisp and sprightly.
Likewise an unmitigated joy, Padraic Duffy's punny take on "The
Flounder" takes us underwater, where the eponymous piscis
(John Douglas Williams) tries to school a variety of his buddies.
Director Allison Gammon has the actors in differing comedic runs;
we can imagine her endlessly studying an aquarium for ideas.
Hunt's Carp is a New York broad; Stein's jester of a Herring
spouts a comprehensive fish-species-as-pun monologue; Hart's
Pike is a dippy Beat poetess, her free verse recited against
an accompaniment of bass (the instrument, that is) and drums.
Elegantly penned by George Larkin, "Infinite Cinderella" weaves
together variants on the happily-ever-after tale of a pure girl
and her prince, beloved over ages and cultures, the evening's
lively introduction unfussily directed by Denise Barnard.
Of its technical elements, this show's most successful is its
costume design, featuring witty, effective, utilitarian, and
just-plain-pleasing togs... The original music, by Brenda Varda,
featuring spiffing jazz riffs by guitarist Jay Dover, in the
main enhances the tales with sometimes Teutonic, sometimes ethereal
tunes and orchestrations.
LA WEEKLY - recommended! (Luis Reyes)
Like its predecessor last year at the Sacred Fools Theater,
this collection of Grimm adaptations contains a range of theatrical
styles, all performed with gusto. Strongest of the evening, Bryan
Davidson’s revisiting of Death’s Messengers (directed
by Larry Biederman) finds the Viennese brothers themselves (Michael
Lanahan and Tom Costello) in a search for stories to include
in their latest volume of work that eventually leads them to
a subterranean vagrant (John Douglas Williams) haunted by death.
Brenda Varda gives a hearty musical spin to Duration of Life,
in which animals (Denise Barnard, Noah Blake, LaCares Green,
Mathew Moore) ask Mother Nature (Beth Bergman) for fewer years
on this human-spoiled planet. Wayne Peter Liebman’s The
Goosegirl is more a straight adaptation, but director L. Flint
Esquerra maintains a quick, comedy-of-manners pace that nudges
this lowbrow comedy towards a higher brow. And they pull it all
off with what seems like hardly a budget at all.
ACCESSIBLY LIVE
Two separate productions are currently playing at The MET Theatre
in Hollywood that should not be missed!
The first show, GRIMM, TOO, a collection of stories and fables
originally collected by the Brothers Grimm, who in early 19th
century Germany, compiled stories that offer a moral over one's
actions. The stories were funny, sad, and even cruel, sometimes
setting up a horrible demise of the stories' characters in the
end. These were far from being the cute and charming fables that
kids were told and retold. Many of these stories are depicted
on stage as they were collected way back when! These tales, many
of them a bit strange, range from a childless couple how gives
birth to a good natured hedgehog, from a poor woman how gives
all of the worldly possessions, only to receive more in return,
to the telling (and re-re-re-telling) of the tale that is best
known as "Cinderella".
Conceived by producer George Larkin, and directed by seven directors,
written by nine writers, played by twenty actors, and music provided
by a live jazz combo to boot, GRIMM TOO is funny, sad, cruel,
and still holds its ironic charm. It's again one-part Fractured
Fairy Tales, one part Saturday Night Live, and all entertaining.
Just remember to leave the kids at home! (For the evenings, anyway!)
THE PLAY REVIEW
A classic popular song's lyrics declare that "Fairy tales
can come true? it can happen to you." This is one time when
you might hope they don't! The Met theater has dug up some obscure
tales from the Brothers Grimm archives and is bringing the audience
face to face with these strange accounts, which have been written
and re-written by contemporary writers and by now are probably
but a mere shadow of the originals. Still, many will not ever
make the kiddie repertoire, but could be good vehicles for a
type of "Twilight Zone" or something like that, since
they are too strange to make mainstream storytelling. Unless
you consider theatre mainstream.
The show starts out with a re-telling of Cinderella in several
versions from different countries. If there is one thing that
is obvious, it's the exuberant energy the actors display as they
literally rush from one version to another, in various accents,
dialects, costumes and situations. After that, it only gets more
strange.
According to the program notes, the Grimm brothers collected
folk tales and retold them, but since some were so gory and strange,
they were forced to change them to make them more acceptable
to the general public.
We can see why... Of course, the average person might not be
too comfortable with a hedgehog around, but this one is exceptional
and manages to marry a beautiful princess. Later on when another
vignette shows a school of fish who reluctantly follow a flounder,
you begin to see that there may not necessarily be a moral to
these tales. When a thumb wins a game show, or a beheaded horse
talks, you know they are teetering on the edge of the envelope.
All these are funny to watch, however, and the audience laughed
with gusto at most of them. (When they were meant to be funny.)
Some stories are downright gory, others are sad, and still some
are outlandish, but they all have the one common element of being
done very well with excellent acting, good music and an eye toward
stylized presentations. They even threw in a little nudity to
spice up The Star of Money story, but quite frankly, it would
have worked just as well without the bare breasts. All in all,
however, this is a fun show, and the huge ensemble did a wonderful
job keeping it going.
What the Critics said about
TRÈS GRIMM!
the REAL stories of the Brothers Grimm!
Third in the award winning series!
Developed, co-written & produced for the Met Theatre
by George Larkin
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES – RECOMMENDED! (David C. Nichols)
Grown-up Grimm pulls no punches
A satanic arrangement maims an innocent girl, who nonetheless
marries royalty. Three rural roommates change their domestic
routine only to become lunch. Two brothers mimicking their beef-butcher
dad push roughhousing into tragedy. These tabloid scenarios are
from "Tres Grimm! (Grimm III)" at the MET Theatre.
George Larkin's third slate of adult takes on tales by folklore's
cautionary brothers is a vivacious volume earmarked by wry designs
and spry playing, some distractions notwithstanding.
A modern storyteller (Lindsay Frame) and her stepdaughter (Angela
DiMarco) propel Larkin's prologue, "The Death of the Little
Hen." This ensemble schoolyard goof is vicious and hysterical.
So is Ruth Silveira's saga of "The Mouse, the Bird, and
the Sausage," with Tyler Tanner's rodent, Rachel Levy's
avian and Eric Riviera's Hormel candidate all hilarious.
Tanner and Jeff Folschinsky's "The Singing Bone" is
a bebop riff featuring director Noah Blake, whose vocals ignite
his colleagues. Erik Evans' "How Some Children Played at
Slaughtering" (the butcher's boys) sees Alexis Wesley, Jonathan
Winn, Geoffrey Hillback and Skip Moore balancing satire and horror,
under set designer Bo Crowell's direction.
Robert Hensley's riveting "The Dark Sisters" is impressive,
particularly Donovan Knowles' betrayed soldier and the title
trio of Sondra Mayer, Renée Mignosa and Dawn Worrall.
Chantal Bilodeau's haunting "The Miller's Daughter" is
the evening's peak. Worrall's hand-amputated heroine, Winn's
devil, Ryan Horner's king, Mignosa's double-duty moms and Christopher
Spencer's father are directed by L. Flint Esquerra with flair.”
“Energy abounds, and the dècor suggests Andrei
Serban on peyote.”
LA WEEKLY - RECOMMENDED! (Neal Weaver)
The stories in this — producer George Larkin’s third
collection of playlets based on the folktales collected by the
Brothers Grimm — would be gory Grand Guignol if they were
played straight, but here the approach is (mostly) tongue-in-cheek,
providing more giggles than gore. Some of the tales proved too
grim for the Grimms: They appeared in early editions of their
works but were eliminated from later printings. Other stories
that have been sanitized by modern editors are here restored
to their original gory detail. In “Cinderella,” the
ugly stepsisters chop off their toes and heels in an attempt
to fit into the glass slipper, and Sleeping Beauty is awakened
not with a kiss but a rape. (One tale ends with startling finality: “Everybody
is dead.”) Ten writers, eight directors, three musicians
and 19 actors have joined forces for this extravaganza, so it’s
difficult to single out individual contributions. But the clever
and madly eclectic original music, composed and conducted by
Brenda Varda, lends rich counterpoint to all the tales. Overall,
this is an exuberant and funny exercise in schadenfreude and
gallows humor.
schadenfreude \SHAHD-n-froy-duh\, noun:
A malicious satisfaction in the misfortunes of others.
REVIEWPLAYS.COM (Lynne Bronstein)
“Tres Grimm uses several directors and writers and a cast
of about twenty vigorous young actors to stage these stories.
As a mother (Lindsay Frame) reads "bedtime stories" to
her daughter (Angela DeMarco) in between-scenes narrative sketches,
we are told that the Grimm Brothers discarded and added stories
to successive editions of their books, while subsequent editors "cleaned
up" the violence, frank sexuality, and sad endings of many
of the surviving stories. Disney cleaned things up even more,
as the company demonstrates in "Disney Divas." Did
you know that Sleeping Beauty’s father raped her? That
the Seven Dwarves are slaughtered in one variant of the Snow
White story? That Cinderella’s sisters mutilated their
feet to fit them into the slipper? Eeech! Be forewarned that
in other tales enacted here, an entire family dies as a result
of "child’s play" that turns brutal, a girl has
her hands cut off, a man is blinded by his former friends, and
one brother kills another.
Each tale is told in a slightly different way, depending on
the writers and director involved. Two outstanding sketches use
music and humor to great effect. In "The Singing Bone," by
Tyler Tanner and Jeff Folschinsky, eight beret-wearing cast members
tell the story of a murder and the flute fashioned from a bone
that betrays the murderer. (Noah Blake is credited as director
but there is no mention of the jazz-style choreography-whoever
came up with it, hats off to them)."Master Pfriem" written
and choreographed by Brenda Varda, and directed by L. Flint Esquerra,
is a mini-musical about an annoying effete snob cobbler who can’t
stop complaining and insulting people, until the angels teach
him a lesson. Christopher Spencer is hilarious in the title role.
On the more serious side, two effective stories are Robert Hensley’s "The
Dark Sisters," and Chantal Bilodeau’s "The Miller’s
Daughter." ‘The Dark Sisters" is a tale of greed,
revenge, and triumph over agony. It makes wonderful use of lighting,
music, and costumes to achieve its nightmarish ambience. (The
sisters of the title are mounted on the backs of three other
cast members to create three grotesquely shaped monster women).
As the wounded and ultimately redeemed hero, Donovan Knowles,
a Met regular, gives the evening’s best non-comic performance. "The
Miller’s Daughter" survives being sold to the Devil
by her hard-up father, as well as other hardships. Dawn Worrall
plays this role with uncloying purity”
“Special mention must be made of the great work done by
the three-piece music ensemble, T.J. Welch on percussion, Michael
Johnson on guitar, and the aforementioned Brenda Varda on keyboards
and vocals.
Overall, though, "Tres Grimm" is an entertaining evening
of theatre that will probably prompt some to dust off their old
fairy-tale books and look up the more controversial variants.
But it may not be suitable for young children, according to modern
standards. The Met is offering a somewhat tamer children’s
matinee on Saturdays.”
THE MAESTRO ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE (Michael Upward)
Très Grimm! Très formidable!
HOLLYWOOD, CA - In this celebration of the folk tale and live
story telling, Trés Grimm! (Grimm III) is the third installment
in a series of plays that draw from the original stories by the
Brothers Grimm. While quite humorous at times, all of the stories
have one thing in common: they reveal dark moral truths about
humanity. Producer George Larkin has assembled a fine cast to
bring these stories to life at The Met Theatre in Hollywood.
Containing 13 short "vignettes," the play ranges from
the sublime: a charming ballet sequence, to the ridiculous: a
walking sausage and his two best friends. Rachel Levy gave a
funny and convincing performance as the sausage's misguided friend, "Bird."
In the musical story of Master Pfriem, written and composed
by Brenda Varda, Christopher Spencer gave a colorful and comical
interpretation of this nit-picking perfectionist. Lindsay Frame
and Angela DiMarco played the storyteller and her daughter who
occasionally became entangled in the stories. A talented group
of musicians accompanied the production under the direction of
Brenda Varda who composed an enchanting score for Trés
Grimm!
The play was written by a group of authors. "The Singing
Bone" by Tyler Tanner and Jeff Folschinsky, and "The
Fox and the Geese" by Alexis Wesley seemed to be among the
audience's favorites. Culminating the evening was "The Miller's
Daughter" which was spiritedly written by Chantal Bilodeau,
and artistically directed by L. Flint Esquerra. Chorus leaders
Sondra Mayer and Donovan Knowles artfully told the story of this
intriguing fairy tale.
Revealing the darkest side of the Grimm brothers was "How
Some Children Played at Slaughtering," written by Erik Evans.
While difficult to watch such a violent scene, it gave a glimpse
of the innocent, yet wicked aspect of the human condition. At
the same time it allowed the actors an opportunity to demonstrate
the true scope of their abilities.
Together with the rest of the writing team (Drew Brody, Robert
Hensley and Ruth Silveira), George Larkin has created an edgy
and imaginative experience in modern theater. Remaining true
to the vivid Grimm stories of the early 19th century, this entertaining
adaptation is not for the whole family. However, The Met Theatre
will be presenting family friendly versions of Trés Grimm!
on February 14, 21 and 28
ACCESSIBLY LIVE (Rich Borowy)
TRES GRIMM, the return of stage depictions of tales and fables
created and conceived by the Brothers Grimm, makes a return at
Hollywood's MET Theatre.
The pair of story-collecting siblings received many of the tales and fables
from the common people of Germany around surrounding countries during the early
19th Century. They published a book of these stories in one volume. It was
so well taken, the book went through seven editions. Later versions added stories,
changed and edited a few, and even dropped a couple. In Tres Grimm, some of
the lesser known tales are depicted on stage. Some are charming (The Fox And
The Geese), others are a bit macabre (The Death Of The Little Hen), while the
rest are rather...well, grim! They are full of horrible death and sorrow, getting
rather creepy in nature. However, the common folks liked their stories 'saucy
and meaty', and this is as 'meaty' as one could get!
Producer George Larkin, who also conceived two previous shows of Grimm Fairy
Tales depicted on stage, takes a dozen of these stories and fables, and thanks
to a cast of writers, directors, and of course, the cast -- they all form an
anthology of stories that are rather honest, if not 'politicialy correct' to
later mass audiences. Original live score conducted and composed by Brenda
Varda adds to the mood to this production. (The three piece band featuring
Michael Johnson on guitar, T. J. Welch on percussion, and Varda on the keyboards
can really jam!) It takes an army of talent to create such as show as this
one, and they all can prove that fact!
TRES GRIMM in this form is indeed a real 'adult' show suitable for adult minds
only! However, for those who grew up on such fairy tales, thanks to cartoon
masters as Walt Disney and Jay Ward, and want to keep though pleasant thoughts
of 'em in mind, there is a family friendly version of Tres Grimm, performing
on Saturday afternoons! Take the kiddies to that one!
What the Critics said about
DEAD LAWYERS
written & produced by George Larkin
Originally written and produced by George Larkin
for the Sacred Fools in Los Angeles, the play has now also
gone up at UCSD.and Samuel French has offered to publish it.
The play was selected to be part of the NYC’s
Lark Theatre Playwrights Week 2002.
5 guests, 4 rooms, and a corpse on the couch.
or
The bad news is there’s a dead body on the couch.
The good news is it’s a lawyer.
LA WEEKLY (recommended!): (Sandra Ross)
On a dark and stormy night, corporate lawyer Laura (Desi Doyen)
admits she’s been suicidal for some time, so it’s
no surprise when the other weekend renters at an isolated Hamptons
time-share stumble upon a corpse. With the deceased center stage,
rival lawyer Douglas (Allen Lulu) steals Laura’s legal briefs
while depressed social worker Tuba (Scott Rabinowitz) reads her
diary and finds himself smitten with her. Mousy tax lawyer Cathy
(Alexandria Sage) revels in the excitement, comforting the deceased’s
fiancé Peter (Graham McCann) until Michael (J. Haran) arrives
claiming to be the real fiancé.
Playwright George Larkin cannibalizes various genre conventions
with mistaken identities, elevating the whodunit spoof to new
levels of hilarity. He keeps the action moving, the jokes zooming
and the pratfalls flying at a breathless pace, with the energetic
cast delivering uniformly strong comic performances. Dominated
by a nautical motif (including a giant taxidermied marlin), Aaron
Francis’ multi-doored set is nicely suited to the action,
particularly to Adam Bitterman’s well-choreographed fight
scene.
BACKSTAGE WEST (Wenzel Jones)
Although George Larkin's script is hardly the Shakespearean bloodfest
the title promises (I will admit to nurturing a sweet fantasy
wherein an arena of lawyers battle each other until only a few
cell phones and a Porsche key chain are left behind), it's still
a fun show based on the Agatha Christie premise of a house, cut
off from civilization by a storm, containing a mysterious corpse
and a number of terrified occupants.
Lawyers Douglas (Allen Lulu) and Cathy (Alexandria Sage), along
with the way-out-of-his-element social worker Tuba (Scott Rabinowitz),
all arrive at their Hamptons time-share to find a corpse, head
neatly bagged, sitting upright on the couch. A quick perusal of
the nearby diary, with its 17 subheadings, reveals what they think
to be the truth-until the corpse's fiancé Peter (Graham
McCann) shows up. And then the corpse's fiancé Michael
(J. Haran) shows up. And then things get complicated.
Lulu and Sage are wonderfully reprehensible as lawyers who attempt
the occasional human emotion, while Rabinowitz proves a warm and
personable foil. McCann and Haran are fun, but I can't tell you
why. Desi Doyen has a captivating Grace Kelly quality, but I can't
tell you who she is. I may have told you too much already. The
delightfully named Adam Bitterman shows an adept directorial hand
for farce.
I don't know who to applaud for the lights - I'll guess it's
production designer Aaron Francis - but they're wonderful. Much
of the play happens by candlelight, and it's not until they all
light up at once after a blackout that you even realize they're
not real. I don't know how those warm little pools of light were
achieved so naturally, but it's quite an effect. The set (the
modest Mr. Francis again?) is a lovely bit of seafoam green real
estate. Babe Hack's sound makes for a ripping good storm.
Only the addition of deceased IRS auditors could make for a more
appealing premise.
VENTURA COUNTY STAR & SAN BERNADINO SUN (Jeff Favre)
Question: A lawyer dies, goes to heaven and they throw a parade
for her. Why? Answer: Because she was the first one to get there.
With this and dozens of other attorney jokes, the play Dead Lawyers
is a hysterical send-up of Agatha Christie whodunits and door-slamming
farces with more egotistical lawyers than an O.J. trial.
A raging storm, a washed-out bridge and a secluded time-share
house in the Hamptons provide the ideal setting for this comic
mystery. Adam Bitterman directs George Larkin’s play for
The Sacred Fools Theater Company, which has forged its name as
one of the city’s better troupes. On Thursdays two lawyers
get in for the price of one.
What the Critics said about
THE PERVERSE TONGUE
Written & produced by George Larkin at the Met Theatre
in Los Angeles November-December 2002
An America after Plague. Ruled by the Bible.
Enforced by the Soldiers of God.
LOS ANGELES LOYOLAN
“
Thought provoking play details dark version of the future with
religious extremism.”
“The plot, in all its turmoil and ethical inquiries, continues
to roller coaster among love triangles, fist-fights and good-versus-evil
obstacles. The story is, needless to say, completely intriguing
and touching, yet sustains a sense of uneasiness with the audience.
As farfetched as it seems, this extreme scenario seems all too
possible.
Biblical text is used throughout the play, informing the audience
that the playwright is not just opinionated but educated on the
topic. The story line twists and turns, keeping the audience
on the edge of their seats as they are faced with constant surprise
rather than predictability. No character is quite what they seem
as their facades are removed and the audience is able to observe
the true colors of each character.
The Perverse Tongue is an excellent precursor of a lengthy conversation
as well as a great topic for debate. The play is a warning to
be careful who power is delegated to, as society can be easily
swayed by good politicians rather than ideas. It warns of of
the risks of interpreting a piece of writing literally -- in
this case, the Bible. It's dangerous territory, as Larkin warns
to be cautious upon viewing his play..
Of course, none of these messages could not have been conveyed
if not for the admirable realism of the actors -- especially
Maria Cina as Rebekah and Greg Good as Paul. They transported
the story along its course with meticulous attention to detail
and with the execution of true artists.”
THE PLAY REVIEW
“In the past few weeks there have been several reviews
here that deal with the ominous future and the possible change
of human values. From Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 to George
Orwell's Animal Farm, we see repression, totalitarianism and
power hungry regimes that feed on their own corruption. Now we
have The Perverse Tongue, about as imaginative and thought provoking
as they come. George Larkin has come up with a premise in this
compelling drama that is at once chilling and plausible.
As many stories of this genre seem to do, this one is set in
the not too distant future after a calamitous event that has
transformed the world. The regular government has been destroyed
and the ones in charge now are the religious zealots who use
the word of the Bible to guide their laws and their actions.
What's wrong with that, you ask? Living by the Word surely must
bring harmony and respect to all? Yeah, right! Insisting on a
strict biblical interpretation causes problems here since the
decisions are based not on the word, but on who is doing the
interpreting.
Like everything else, those in power have now become as perverse
as those before them, except that now they do it with the word
of God as their weapon. As with most situations, the burning
issue is not one of life or death, moral right or wrong, ethics
or crime. It's sex. But most people who read the bible argue
that it is filled with sexual references anyway, so that's no
big surprise. When issues of sex come up, they are closely paralleled
with women's issues, for somehow society seems to equate sexual
depravation with women.
Thus, if one follows the bible (Deuteronomy xx-xx) if a woman
is raped, she is put to death along with the rapist. That's like
saying "if you steal candy, you and the grocer get your
finger chopped off!" If a woman is betrothed and she is
raped, then she must marry the rapist and can never be separated
from him. Talk about loving your enemy! You get the picture.
This story takes some of the more convoluted Biblical quotations
and builds a tense situation around two sisters, who face a similar
sexual dilemma. The younger one is about to be married, but when
forced to a premarital Virginity Check from the authorities her
deep secret is discovered. They face trial, and come close to
receiving capital punishment, but for an unusual turn of events
and the aid of a stranger, who turns out to be a priest and who
formulates a plan to free them.
The bride-to-be despairs at the trial and curses God, so besides
the sexual charges, she now must have her tongue cut off according
to the bible in Proverbs 10:31. To add to the problem, Larkin
introduces a homosexual male couple, in a thinly veiled a Cain
and Abel metaphor that underscores the perversity of the regime
far more than the forbidden actions of the men...”
“Larkin's story is so gripping and uniquely presented
that it's definitely worth a look, especially since the US has
recently had preacher politicians running for President. If they
had won, would we eventually have the situation that George Larkin
describes? Many would argue that it could never be, and the electorate
would be too sophisticated to let it happen.
But then again, twenty five years ago they also said that there
was no way an actor could ever become President!”
ENTERTAINMENT TODAY
“What makes Larkin’s story compelling is it’s
plausibility. Having experienced a presidential election where
an ultra-right religious candidate upset at least one state count,
the specter is too close for comfort. As with most ultra- conservative
issues, the biggest preoccupation in this tale is sex. The laws
governing female virginity, chastity, rape and marriage are straight
out of the Old Testament and usually make the woman the guilty
one, regardless of the circumstances. The title refers to any
blasphemer whose perverse tongue will be cut off!
Larkin shows two sisters trying to remake their difficult past,
and when the younger sister is about to marry, a government inspector
comes to perform a “Virginity Check” on her wedding
day. If she fails, she will be put to death! How many people
today could pass a pre-marital virginity test? OK, the third
grade girls can lower your hands — this is not a survey!”
ACCESSIBLY LIVE
“(A) disturbing look on how the ideals of the religious
and Christianity can go amuck if such notions fall into the wrong
hands. The play isn’t bashing the Bible or Christianity
itself. It is just demonstrating what could happen if elements
of such are translated from one old society to a newer one.
The Perverse Tongue shows that elements may not happen in today’s
society as it’s portrayed on stage, but it could come dangerously
close!”
What the Critics said about
NAKED HOLIDAYS
“Naked Holidays” was Sacred Fool’s 2000 holiday one act festival.
I wrote the opening one act.
LA WEEKLY (recommended!): (Paul B. Cohen)
George Larkin’s “The Naked Holidays Opening,” directed
gleefully by Alexander Yannis Stephano, is the pick of the show.
A multicultural melange outlining the contrasting traditions
of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanza with a debunking of Christian
traditions, climaxing in a semi-clothed chorus line.
LA TIMES (from page one of the Calendar section) (Don Shirley)
There are 8 million stories in the naked Holidays and “Naked
Holidays, at Sacred Fools Theatre, tells seven of them. It’s
naked in the sense of exposing all sorts of holiday-related emotions
- the jangled as well as the jingled - as well as in a more literal
way. Although there’s no full frontal nudity, a few moments
come close (with both genders). There are scenes of sex and violence.
This is not a show for kids.
Most of the clothes come off near the end of George Larkin’s
frisky musical introduction, which also establishes that the
holidays in question include Hanukkah, Kwanza and solstice celebrations,
as well as Christmas. The show pokes fun of its own ethnic non-diversity
by enlisting an unwilling white guy (Jeff Benninghofen) to explain
Kwanza.
Not all of the seven vignettes that follow are especially raw.
Nothing else is as good...
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