[NEohioPAL] Review of "Devil Boys From Beyond" at convergence-continuum

[Bob Abelman]

Con-con's 'Devil Boys' offers hilarious, boundary-shattering parody

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times,

The Morning Journal, Geauga Times Courier

Member, American Theatre Critics Association 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 5/18/12

 

 

Parodies are far from original fare, borrowing shamelessly from more sober source material and then exploiting it for their own ill-gotten gains.  They can, however, be genuinely fun affairs if they take creative risks, plenty of liberties, and no prisoners.  

 

Such is the case with the weird and wonderful "Devil Boys From Beyond," currently in production at convergence-continuum in Tremont under Clyde Simon's devil-may-care direction.

 

Buddy Thomas and Kenneth Elliot's play, which ran off-Broadway after its 2009 premiere at the New York International Fringe Festival, is an unholy union between the 1940s screwball comedy and the campy 1950s sci-fi drama.  

 

More specifically, the "Devil Boys" revolves around an alien invasion ala Robert Wise's "The Day the Earth Stood Still," where strangers from a strange world take over the bodies of their human hosts ala Don Siegel's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."  Florence Wexler and Dotty Primrose, two dumpy, dissatisfied housewives in backwoods Lizard Lick, Florida, have a life-altering experience after a space ship crash-lands in their backyard and unloads muscle-bound men from Pluto.

 

The invasion has caught the attention of the New York Bugle newspaper, where hard-boiled editor Gil Wiatt assigns fast-talking, no-nonsense star reporter Mattie Van Nuren and her lovable, alcoholic, ex-husband photographer Gregory Graham to cover the story. They're followed to Lizard Lick by gossip columnist Lucinda Marsh, who plans on stealing the scoop.  All this is an amusing mashup of storyline elements from Howard Hunt's "His Girl Friday" and characters types found in Frank Capra's "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." 

 

"His Girl Friday" is actually an adaptation of the play "The Front Page" that converted the fast-talking reporter from a male to a female.  In like albeit lampooning fashion, the authors of "Devil Boys" give all the female roles to men in drag.  They give them all the best business and naughtiest lines as well. 

 

As parodies go, this is a good one for the source material is recognizable but an awful lot of fun is had at its expense.  Set in 1957, "Devil Boys" turns the Red Scare and period fears of alien invasion brought on by space exploration into comedic commentary on the issue of same-sex marriage.  It does so with tongue firmly planted in some other guy's cheek-which is convergence-continuum's trademark-and is more fodder for our entertainment than transgender or gay rights agenda-setting.

 

As productions go, this is good but could be better.  Director Simon cast Mattie Van Nuren as an actual female, which serves as an interesting counterpoint to the broad, grotesque-in-a-good-way portrayals turned in by cross-dressing Zac Hudak as Lucinda, Grey Cross as Florence, and Jonathan Wilhelm as Dotty.  However, Amy Bistok-Bunce tends to mimic rather than fully embrace the character-type created by Rosalind Russell and Jean Arthur in the 1940s.  Bistok-Bunce is a pleasure to watch, but she would be grand if her Mattie was given more moxie.   

 

The same can be said for Tim Coles as the hard boiled newspaper editor (played over easy) and Michael Prosen as the lovable alcoholic (played too pathetic).  They need to be more over-the-top and truer to their characters' film-based archetypes to better blend with the show's more exaggerated performances, including those of Clint Elston and Geoffrey Hoffman as the shirtless extraterrestrials.  

 

As with most con-con productions, scenery and set pieces are spare.  Curtis Holland's lighting, Lisa Wiley's sound design, and Deana Cechowski's costuming do just enough to bring to mind the cheap look and even cheaper special effects of B-movie thrillers. 

 

"Devil Boys" is the third in con-con's three-play series "Cosmic Conundrums Curiously Considered," which address big issues in a different, cutting-edge, engaging manner.  It continues through June 2 at the Liminis Theatre in historic Tremont.  For tickets, which range from $10 to $15, call 216-687-0074 or visit www.convergence-continuum.org.

 
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