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review Pssst. Hey, buddy. Yeah, you. Wanna see some freaks? Wanna see the Turtle Boy let loose from his cage? Wanna see live rats crawling on the Albino Man? How about The Thing that's half love-hungry chick, half butt-whippin' dude? Wanna see that? Then get on over to Stages in Anaheim for their full-throttle mounting of Roger Freeman's engaging if flawed new play, "God of the Odd". You'll see all this, and more. Freeman and director Patrick Gwaltney take us into the murky netherworld of a Depression-era traveling freak show ruled by the one-eyed, two-fisted Cranston Dollarhide (K.C. Mercer), and his henchman Tac-Tac (Matt Freeman). Tac-Tac, we learn, acquired his name one night after nailing a customer's scrotum to the bar he tends after the shows. Imagine how they treat the freaks. Into Dollarhide's little kingdom comes smooth-talking tonic salesman Thomas Allswell (Michael Kroeker). Impressed with Allswell's slick patter, Dollarhide hires him as the show's pitchman and barker. Before long we learn all is not well with Allswell, that he is carrying a dirty little secret from his past along with that refreshing elixir. Playwright Freeman spins his two separate threads well -- mysterious outsider and lovable freaks -- but never satisfactorily weaves them together. Subplots of freak camaraderie, while entertaining, don't really go anywhere, and the final violent climax smacks of a too-easy cop-out better left to the likes of "All My Children". But Gwaltney guides the action so
smoothly throughout it almost doesn't matter. The cast is solid to a freak, especially
Mercer's Dollarhide, Pamela Pedder's identity-challenged hermaphrodite Candy-Randy, and
Matt Tully's rail-thin, rat-fondling albino, Lunaman. Technically, Kirk Huff's complex and
moody sound design deserves special note. Stages, 1188 N. Fountain Way, Anaheim, 714.630.3059. Fri. & Sat., 8pm; Sun. 6pm. Thru November 30. $10. |