[NEohioPAL] Berko review: A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE @ none toofragile theater

Mon Feb 11 12:57:02 PST 2013

I always used to tell my linguistics students, when we reached the subject
of taboo language (ethnic, sexual, religious, racial...), that we could go
ahead and say those terms out loud in class, as long as we were just
talking ABOUT them, and that our doing so did not in the least imply any
approval of their use in any other circumstance.  And so here, too:
Squeamish about those terms? Then censor ALL of them with asterisks. Or
just put ALL of them, fully spelt, in quotation marks, so that we know
you're just talking ABOUT them, and we will not assume that you therefore
approve of them. Easy-peasy.

On Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 12:51 PM, Sergio Iriarte <vanbrujah at aol.com> wrote:

>  Demonstrating yet again how incredibly out of touch he is with
> audiences. I'm very interested to see how he attempts to defend this one.
> Poorly, no doubt.
>  ------------------------------
> From: MARC MORITZ <marcmoritz at yahoo.com>
> Sent: 2/11/2013 12:34 PM
> To: Roy Berko <royberko at gmail.com>; post at neohiopal.org
> Subject: Re: [NEohioPAL] Berko review: A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE @ none
> toofragile theater
>
> Interesting that this reviewer deems it inappropriate to spell the word
> "Motherfucker " instead substituting it with motherfu**ers, but felt it OK
> to use the word "Nigger" in its entirety. What does that say about this
> reviewers ethics? Ifor one am confused.
>
> Sincerely,
> Marc Moritz
>
>
> *From:* Roy Berko <royberko at gmail.com>
>
>  *To:* post at neohiopal.org
> *Sent:* Monday, February 11, 2013 9:22 AM
> *Subject:* [NEohioPAL] Berko review: A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE @ none too
> fragile theater
>
>
>
> ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
> *none too fragile’s A  BEHANDING IN SPOKANE…not for the language police!*
> **
>
> Roy Berko
> (Member, American Theatre Critics Association & Cleveland Critics Circle)
>
> Sean Derry, the artistic director of none too fragile theater, is known
> for his love of off-the-wall scripts and characters.  He fears no plots,
> language or the macabre.  In Martin McDonagh, the author of none too
> fragile’s latest brain teaser, A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE, he has met his mate.
>
> McDonagh, who is the first dramatist since Shakespeare to have four works
> professionally produced on London stages in a single season, has won every
> major British theatre and film writing award.
>
> McDonagh, who is considered by some to be the most important living Irish
> stage and film writer, is fascinated with wretched, ill fated, jaded,
> obsessive characters.  These malcontents are often liars with
> imaginations that know no limits.  They flourish in self-mythology and
> are usually self-destructive.
>
> The playwright also has no regard for the word police.  He peppers his
> scripts with language that can make some audience members cringe.  He
> makes playwright David Mamet (GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, SPEED-THE-PLOW), noted
> for his constant use of profanity and vivid words, appear almost to be a
> member of the clean mouth club.
>
> In BEHANDING IN SPOKANE, for example, words like hillbilly, fag, and
> fu***in’ are spoken freely.  I stopped counting after the first fifty
> motherfu**ers and twenty uses of niggers.  If you aren’t offended yet,
> there’s a fight in which the characters throw multiple numbers of severed
> hands at each other.  It’s like a macabre pillow fight of digits.  Some
> of the bloody fists bounce off audience members as some observers are
> seated within three feet of the action.
>
> A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE is McDonagh’s first play set in America.  It
> opened in New York in 2010.  The king of mean, actor Christopher Walken,
> was nominated for a Tony Award for his portrayal of the leading.
>
> The none too fragile theatre is a 65-seat black box, which is cramped, the
> seating is close, and no one is more than 10 feet from the thrust stage.  It’s
> a perfect venue for McDonagh’s grizzly dark comedy.
>
> The lights come up on a seedy hotel room where Carmichel, an unkempt,
> wild-eyed, hair-a-mess middle aged man is sitting on the bed.  Within
> seconds a noise comes from the closet, Carmichel throws open the door,
> whips out a gun, shoots, slams the closet door closed, and we are assured
> that “nothing good can come from this!”
>
> In the next seventy-five minutes we are exposed to a can of gasoline, a
> candle, handcuffs, a gun, racial and sexual terms, drugs, and lots of
> questions over what’s going on.  Overriding all of this is the query,
> What was the author’s purpose in penning this bizarre script?
>
> We meet an interracial couple, a stoned main desk clerk, Carmichel’s
> mother (via several telephone calls), see near deaths, view Twinkies being
> consumed, and  view an unexpected and bizarre ending.
>
> The none too fragile’s production hits the audience on various levels.  Some
> laugh hysterically, others sit in shock, still others seem to turn off the
> entire action and go inward with no means to escape the intermissionless
> exercise. The reaction centers on what each person perceives to be going on
> and/or how much liquor they have had before and during the show.  (Each
> production starts with an introduction, the director handing out free
> shots, and waitresses taking drink orders.)
>
> Michael Regnier is quite adequate as Carmichael.  He is not as menacing
> as Christopher Walken, nor as crazed as the role calls for, but he gets his
> point across.  It would have been fascinating to see the director, Sean
> Derry, play the role as this is the kind of part that he does so well.
>
> Nick Yurick, as the desk clerk who spends part of the play shaving his
> knuckles and fingers, is properly spacey, but not always believable.
>
> Brian Kenneth Armour, as the emotional Toby, an African American low level
> drug dispenser and wheeler dealer, is spot on.  His pretend macho, yet
> crying jag portrayal, is nicely honed.
>
> Kelly Strand as Marilyn, Toby’s air-headed girl friend, is out and out
> funny and convincing.
>
> *Capsule judgement: none too fragile’s A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE is
> definitely not for everyone.  If you have a macabre sense of humor, have
> a high tolerance for swearing and offensive stereotypes, you  will really
> get into this show.  Others may be so offended and/or confused their only
> wish would be for the final lights out.  Which one are you?*
> *
> *
> A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE runs through March 9 at none too fragile theater
> located in Bricco’s Restaurant, 1841 Merriman Road, Akron.  Use the free
> valet parking, as car space is limited.  For tickets call 330-671-4563 or
> go to http://www.nonetoofragile.com
> ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
>
>
>
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