If "Scenery" is a term for "making
a scene," Ed Dixon's new comedy is aptly named, and he
and co-star Lynne Wintersteller are experts at the craft.
The show, which opened in Saugatuck's Mason
Street Warehouse Friday night, is a nonstop barrage of one-liners
and witty put-downs.
Dixon and Wintersteller portray Richard and
Marion Crain, a Broadway acting couple with 20 years of practice
at turning argument into art. In the dressing room of the Belasco
Theatre, just before the opening of "The Anniversary Wake," they
slice and dice each other, as well as producers, rude audiences
and even Domino's Pizza.
Dixon, a longtime Broadway actor, playwright
and composer, debuted a similar play a few years ago in Connecticut
but said he considers this show the world premiere of a substantially
rewritten script.
The result kept the audience laughing and
in awe of the actors' flawless timing. Some of the funniest
bits relied on the actors' ability to interrupt whatever they
were saying to respond in unison to calls from an offstage
voice. Adding to the fun was an offstage toilet that caused
the lights to flash every time it was flushed.
Some of the humor is theater-based, such as
a running bit about the superstition that it's bad luck to
say "Macbeth" in a theater, requiring the offender
to follow an elaborate ritual to counter the curse.
People may be confused when the Crains refer
to "last night's audience," because in Michigan,
an opening usually is the first performance. But in New York,
an opening follows two or three weeks of preview performances.
Many quips are the kind of lines you'd like
to use in your next argument. For instance, when Marion is
trying to calm herself, she recites the mantra: "Get my
breath, get my center, get my gun."
Wintersteller is a fountain of energy, speaking
very fast but always clearly, as she flits from topic to topic.
Dixon's Richard is more introspective, with the slower, wry
retort.
Director David Glenn Armstrong has set a fast
pace, which adds to the humor and keeps the audience from missing
the lack of transition between the loosely related subjects
addressed. This also keeps the audience from thinking too much
about whether these people are real or stereotypes. They strip
down to their undies, lace up a corset and change wigs, yet
it may be difficult to understand what keeps the pair together.
Early on, we discover the marriage is far
from ideal, because Marion complains they haven't had sex in
eight years. On their honeymoon, each had a tryst with the
same male gardener. Now it's 20 years later and Marion is still
sobbing because her husband isn't attracted to her gender.
There are poignant moments, such as when Richard
says he wishes he were perfect so he wouldn't have to try so
hard all the time, and when each expresses concerns about having
a sagging, aging body.
But it's a little frightening when the two
seem most in sync -- like high school girls giggling at a slumber
party -- as Marion gives Richard details of the new man in
her life.
It's clear they both love theater, but is
that enough?
Well, if you believe in the "Macbeth" curse,
you just might buy Dixon's over-the-top plot twists at the
end. If not, at least you'll be laughing while you're shaking
your head.
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