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review
I asked Big Mac if she wanted to check out the one-act festival at Moving Arts. "Saviors and Suspects", only $14. Down the hill from her house on the trash-filled boulevard. "Showcase hell?" she cried. "Short plays and big egos?" She had a point. These one-act bills can be mixed bags. Actors opening their pants and prostituting themselves with showy performances for casting directors, failing the integrity of the plays — it can get real messy. Moving Arts, however, solicits one-acts from all over America in a contest and puts some of the best onstage each fall. This year, Moving Arts is presenting two alternate bills of one-acts, Evening Red and Evening Blue. And while it may be a — whattya know — mixed bag, "showcase hell" is nowhere in sight. All four of Evening Blue's plays carry a dose of "Twilight Zone". Take "Harry's Faith" by Robert Kolsby. Upper-class Harry (Brad Henson) has had an unusual day: he claims God walked into his office after lunch and instructed him to become a prophet. He comes home to a furious wife (ex-Groundling Mona Mansour) after giving away his $50,000 car and worldly possessions. Harry is into sacrifice today, and he needs the cooperation of his wife and infant son. But is he fulfilling God's true plan, or his own mid-life insanity? Kolsby never tips his hand in a play with a satisfyingly ambiguous ending, aided by Lee Wochner's evenhanded direction. "One Slit Head" by Trey Nichols hangs on the same "but-what-if-(s)he's- actually-telling-the-truth?" hook. Two narcs (Rideaux Baldwin, Robin Johnson) bust into an old house with opium poppies growing in the front yard. The lone occupant (Liesel Kopp, memorably understated) claims she's point woman for an elaborate underground conspiracy. It's a set-up for the Feds; if they pull that specially loaded Pez dispenser out of her shirt pocket, it's the beginning of the ultra-violence. The spoof of the whole "X-Files" mentality is welcome, but the play proves to be a shaggy dog story. Nevertheless, it's better than "Beauty Beasts" by Irmgard Lake. Three fashion models elect to commit suicide after their dismissal in some undefined talent search. They will die beautiful; they will be even more beautiful in death. After all, they are Europeans. Samuel Narvell, Amy Zasadny and Kopp end up trapped in a play of excruciating pretension. Imagine "The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant" adapted by the producers of "Knots Landing", and you have some idea of the pain. "Contact", the first-place winner, is written by one Doug Grissom. The bio blurb indicates he's been widely produced, and for good reason. This one-person play, brought to life expertly by actor D.G. Bannon, is a sci-fi special about a layman who's spent 18 months marooned on a starship. Earth is dead; huge floating colonies remain. Our narrator finds himself at the controls recalling past glories and present paranoias much like Winnie in Beckett's "Happy Days". Suddenly, one beep, then three, then ten: something has found him. But how human will this "contact" be? It's a very strong work that deserves to get produced again and again. Evenings of one-acts are risks. You hit, you miss. But with companies like Moving Arts, you have actors and directors giving their all. And nothing takes you and your date out of "showcase hell" like commitment. The bill may be iffy, but here's toasting this gutsy little theatre company. "Saviors
and Suspects (Moving Arts' 5th |