When Black Friday Comes...
Daydream Theatre has built a name for itself by producing quirky, satisfying originals (mostly from the pen of Lenny Schwartz) and donating the proceeds to Bell Street Chapel. Shamelessly self-promoting, Schwartz & Co. maintain an air of good humor about it all and the upcoming 'Black Friday' follows the tradition with tag lines such as "bring your mother. I LOVE your mother!" Free tickles and pastries are promised as well for all those who attend this Tale of Retail and the attendant hassles. " 'Black Friday' has themes I've wanted to write about for some time", says Schwartz. "It's a social commentary kind of poking fun at ourselves, a character study, and a mystery all rolled into one." He claims it's a departure from his usual style, which must mean it's bordering on mainstream, but the promises of a live-action "Clerks" whodunit seem possible and who doesn't like pastry? And tickles?
November 2, 2010
High-Minded Comedy
Original scripts by untested playwrights are a Catch-22. How can an author get their work seen without experience and how can they get experience if no one will produce their work? Other than standing in line to have a Perishable agree to take on their script, the only solution seems to be a one-off, boutique production in a museum or black box on a college campus. Or, you can take the Lenny Schwartz approach - start a company in a dedicated space (in this case, the venerable old Bell Street Chapel) and produce your own work exclusively. Daydream's Production staff has rallied around the idea of making original and affordable Theater available to everyone. A worthy goal, and Schwartz has delivered roughly a dozen scripts that have received a range of reviews, with a few making their way to New York for Off-Off-Broadway runs (and with Bell Street being literally off Broadway in Providence...say what you will).
When More Teeth was invited to attend 'Black Friday' (and to be fair, we asked them first), it was not without complete ignorance of Schwartz's output. We attended 2007's 'Time Thirteen' and that play stood out for its tight plot and effective grasp of dialogue. Combined with the word of mouth from 'December Rabbi' and other works, we knew that the possibility of a biting satire of Holiday consumerism was within Daydream's grasp.
A few wrong turns on a rainy night, More Teeth reaches Bell Street and navigates the parking scenario. Bell Street Chapel is on a gloomy side street, Gothic and haunted looking. The parking lot is reachable only by squeezing through a Deathstar-like alley or going the wrong way 'round and finding the back of the building. Upon entering we're greeted by the Producer, the Director/Author and an Elf. The house is not open, but the Elf wants the few of us scattered in the lobby to sing Carols and then mutters an aside - "I hate my job..." Very David Sedaris. Nice touch.
'Black Friday' is a combination of Theater of the Absurd, "Afterschool Special" family drama and a Frank Zappa song that you pretend to understand because everyone around you seems to be getting something you're not. Add a dash of Sci-Fi mystery and you've got pretty much the essence of this experience. Schwartz clearly has something to say about anti-consumerism and finding out what's truly important in life via good friends and family, but the overall effect is schizoid, as if he had two plays written at different times that were jammed together to form 'Black Friday.'
Two (proudly) white trash friends meet at the Generic Mall of (America...The World?) to hop on the early line for the day after Thanksgiving Christmas sale, aka "Black Friday". Along the journey, they encounter (possible) aliens, rivals drawn from comic books, musical theater, every worst-case Jerry Springer scenario ever conceived and Mall Security (who also may be aliens...). Along the way, our protagonist, Julie, meets a homeless conspiracy theorist who may or may not be her father. Got it?
Schwartz populates his tale with every pop culture reference and in-joke possible. While some hit the mark, including, surprisingly, a "Twilight" reference that draws an involuntary guffaw, much of it comes across like a clever high school drama skit that was hilarious in Improv class. And that's the problem. One is never sure if 'Black Friday' is intended to be alternately frivolous and weighty, or if Schwartz simply never edited his stream of consciousness. The cast is directed, in most cases, to be hyper-aware of their humor, their self-referential stereotypes, and to play to the fourth wall as often as possible. The performances are high camp, with Chris Ferreira's Herb being the most extreme example (aside from the Deus ex Machina of Dan Brown's wildly HR Puffenstuff appearance as The Inventor). His Best Buy employee provides the pivot point for all of the shopping shenanigans and is, we assume, where any personal experience in retail was drawn for the script. His best friend/alter-ego, Archie (Daniel Hoffman) also works in the Mall (which may or may not be an illusion), but in an undefined store that requires cutoff Daisy Dukes and work boots.
Confused yet?
Among this group of sympathetic skanks, it is Missy Marine's Julie that fares best. She manages "weird" along with the rest of the cast, but she shines when paired with Jim Foley's reality-deprived Robert. These scenes provide any true conflict and believability and Marine displays the most range out of what are mostly two-dimensional characters. Foley's Robert, like much of the cast, spends his time fidgeting around, delivering bizarre outbursts, until he is paired with Julie, who constantly confronts him as his deadbeat father. In these moments, he settles down and shares some truly poignant moments. But these are short-lived and then we're off to Captain Beefheart land, where Betty and Veronica fight over Archie and Sandy and Danny Zuko, now married, arrive to beat down all rivals for merchandise. It is actually Ian Sauvageau's Danny who delivers one of the most hilarious performances of the evening, his Truth Bombs hindered only by his unnecessary Achilles heel of a colostomy bag. See where this is going?
And this is where we kept (and keep) wondering if we were just missing the joke. Despite it's almost tossaway nature, 'Black Friday' is very deliberate. The set, designed simply but effectively by Lloyd Felix, is clever and makes use of rotating flats to announce each character entrance. Cherylee Dumas' Betty delivers scathing rebukes on the nature of commerce after making out with Julie and Archie at any given moment. Paul Sauvageau II's Brad exhorts one and all to "smoke a bowl" at every exit...and, ultimately, this sentiment seems to win out. After Julie and Robert come to some sort of agreement... after Danny asserts himself to the bizarrely grotesque portrait of a latter day Sandy D...and after the overly spastic Herb finally decides he's not your stepping stone, we're left with...Smoke A Bowl.
And that is what it probably takes to make sense out of 'Black Friday.'
Now, there have been several stoner comedies that make it big, so Schwartz is not barking up the wrong tree here, but where subtler "Jughead" references work, most of the jokes here are too forced to be the clever sub references it appears Schwartz was going for. Too bad, since the audience clearly was rooting for everyone and this cast was having what appeared to be a great time. It would just be nice to let everyone else in on the joke.
See 'Black Friday' with an open (even an expanded) mind and a willingness for the weird. Maybe by the third weekend, Schwartz and Co. will be collecting cut-up credit cards at the door as the revolution takes root.
Daydream Theatre Company presents Lenny Schwart'z 'Black Friday' November 4, 5, 6; 11,12,13; 18, 19, 20. All shows begin at 8pm. Tickets are available at Smarttix.com. Paid reservations are recommended. Tickets are $10, $5 for Seniors and Students. For more info, call (401) 644.2293 or visit www.daydreamtheatre.com