Producing: Moonchildren review
Fort Bend/Southwest Star
http://www.fortbendstar.com/Archives/2005_3q/080305/nicholson_nick080305.htm
"Nick's Picks"
by Nick Nicholson
"Oh the times, they are a ch-a-a-angin'." Bob Dylan's visionary whine reverberated through the Stages Repertory Theatre, recently, as the audience filed out of Moonchildren, Michael Weller's 1971 study of counter culture co-eds in an American university town. But, to me, the most striking thing about the play was how little the times had changed. You'd think this comedy with its tie-dye fashions and anti-war marches would be hopelessly dated. Perhaps, a decade ago, it would have been. But the wheel of fashion or style or mass culture or the zeitgeist or whatever it is turns and turns. Nothing repeats itself, exactly, of course. But, suddenly, the spirit of a previous age seems to reincarnate before our eyes in a new form. For better or worse, the spirit of the '60s is back.
In any case, it was obvious from the confident, nuanced performances of the young Back Porch Players cast at the Stages Repertory Theatre that they understood and identified with the characters they portrayed. The Summer of Love, after all, is more than three decades behind us - far enough back to constitute a historical challenge to actors in their 20s. But, while some of the clothes and a few of the phrases must have seemed archaic, the general mood must have been eerily familiar.
The play itself is an ingenious comedy of manners, built around a low-key vignette of unhappy romance. In the first scene, we hear a chorus of young people who, as we gradually come to realize, are laying around in the dark in order to witness their pet cat having kittens. It is an inspired set-up for the play - and truly locks us into our seats, later on, when we learn there isn't really any cat at all.
Mike (Nicholas Bogosian) and Cootie (Dan J. Gordon) are the star fantasists in this exuberant group of collegians. They breeze through life in a kind of shared improvisation based on whatever happens to present itself.
Norman (Kregg Dailey) is a mathematics graduate student. He, also, is a bit of a fantasist, but is more literal, intense and, ultimately, confused when it comes to sorting his fantasies from the cold, hard facts of life.
In one sense, the play is a study of what is superficial and what is profound in young people. In the glorious freedom of student days, many outrageous episodes, even disastrous ones, are just part of the general anarchy. But some have deeper roots. And it's not always obvious which are which.
The sad undertow in Moonchildren swirls around Bob (Nick Collins). Throughout the play, we wonder if he will succeed in breaking out of a shell of bitterness and isolation that is hardening around him. In the end, after a tough and upsetting scene with his ex-girlfriend friend Kathy (Rachael Kruk), we realize that - of all the group - he is the one who is in the deepest trouble.
Rounding out this appealing gang is Ruth (Morgan Rosse), Dick (Matt Hune) and Shelly (Elizabeth Bell). Actually, Shelly -- an amusing, innocuous stoned-out flower child who likes to sit under tables -- is a new addition, who was picked up at a protest march by Norman.
Into this vortex come various exemplars of the real world: an encyclopedia salesman (Rick Olvera), their landlord (Stephen Foulard), two cops (Ed Wittke & Danny Minton) and a-long suffering downstairs neighbor (Patrick Jennings). All are presented as comic figures, unequal to the verbal juxtaposition of the young primary figures.
Director Peter Garcia made a shrewd choice in selecting Moonchildren, a play where all the main parts are the right age for the actors in The Back Porch Players troup. Garcia makes this performance work by allowing the actors to feed off each others energy. This is especially the case with the performance of Mike and Cootie (Nicholas Bogosian and Dan J. Gordon). All the actors successfully brought out the comedy of the piece, without ever making fun of the period depicted. And the result was a professional production that only rarely felt like a student production -- and that was in those unavoidable moments during the first run through wherein the pacing was very problematic. No worries, though, as with the talent level of this director and cast, the pacing will be tightened and the audience will be transported back to a time not that different from our very own.
Grade: A - Highly Recommended!
