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| Michael Roberts in Finnigan's Festival of Fresh, Funky, Fun. Photo - Finnigan Productions. |
6th Annual Finnigan’s
Festival of Fresh Funky Fun
Various
Writers & Directors
Review
by Keith Waits
Entire
contents are copyright © 2013 Keith Waits. All rights reserved.
If it’s April then it must
be time again for Finnigan’s Festival of short plays. After six years, the
determinedly adult and offbeat evening continues to push the boundaries and
find the edge. To state that such a risky recipe for theatre may provide uneven
results is entirely too obvious an observation, and the happy report is that
this selection stands as one of the strongest yet.
The Life and Times of Brittany the Chicken revisits the same very odd poultry and white-trash obsessions
featured in previous Festivals from co-author Sherry Deatrick, but with greater
comic clarity in this new update fashioned in collaboration with Brian Walker.
It is here broken into segments that bridge the gaps between the other pieces
and provides a showcase for Michael Roberts’ talents, not least of which is the
most piercing chicken cluck in town. Kelly Kapp and Brian Walker are also a
hoot and a holler in support.
Tad Chitwood’s Status offers intriguing examination of
human interaction in the age of digital relationships, with solid work from its
cast, although the motivation for having its two female cast members disrobe
seemed elusive, while The Gift from the
Gift Shop plays very much like one of the Nick and Cory stories from writer
Corey Music: a chaotic and funny goof on two young men shopping for a sword.
I Saw Mommy and Santa Claus, from Todd Zeigler, is a perhaps too obvious riff on children
spying on Christmas Eve, although April Singer shines as the youngest, and Ben
Unwin’s So Many Dicks delves into a
raucous house party scenario that is nicely realized with particularly
effective sound design and a good performance from Mr. Unwin himself.
Sexual politics is a
dominant theme throughout the program, from Becky LeCron’s feminist-minded In the Driver’s Seat, which featured a
singular comic performance from Briana Clemerson, to Andy Epstein’s The Big
V, which skirts cliché but manages to end on a sweet and simple note of
tenderness as a high school reunion provides the opportunity for a late night
assignation. Brian West and Abby Braune do nice work together here.
Genial crudeness defines Dry Erase BJ, in which a woman sits with
a sign advertising sexual favors for cash in a shopping mall. Brian Walker’s
tidy & economical script upends the conventional moral attitude towards
prostitution with humor and the most graphic adult moment of the night, and
Jane Mattingly lends the role enough stubborn dignity to ground it against the
cheap and tawdry.
Dreaming on Empty, by Ben Gierhart, was a well-observed exchange between two co-workers,
well played by Michael Mayes and April Singer. It is here, in Ms. Singer’s
work, that one finds the best performance of the evening: alert and alive in
the moment, her spontaneous energy made the dialogue seem organic and her
emotions as fluid and natural as real life.
One of the more ambitious
pieces was Mitch Field’s Silverman,
in which the brutal and tragic relationship between a father and son is
explored in a challenging structure that struggled at times for clarity, but
managed a performance of raw emotion from Eric Welch and some nicely
underplayed moments from Sean Childress that was undeniably powerful. Michael
Mayes and Chet Gray were solid support players.
The evening concluded with
an intriguing science fiction story in which finding out your mother is not who
you thought she was is given a unique twist in Rachel White’s The Mother Machine. In the best
tradition of the genre, a robotic parent prompts questions of identity and
familial role-playing and gives Becky LeCron a showcase moment as Mother.
In the past, the concept of
Funky, Fresh Fun has occasionally allowed outrageousness for outrageousness’
sake, but this year’s crop of shorts from local scribes worked surprisingly
well as a family of plays, and was smartly produced and directed with quality
and consistency belying the large creative team at work. The Finnigan Festival
is not the only local program of short plays that will be available this
season, but it is the standard against all others can be measured.
April 4, 5, 6, 11, 12
&13-, 2013 @7:30pm
Finnigan Productions at
The Bard’s Town
1801 Bardstown Road
Louisville, KY 40205
502-749-5275
thebardstown.com
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