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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">MOTHERFUCKER
or is it MOTHERF**KER, captivates at Dobama</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">Roy Berko</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">(</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Palatino;color:black">Member, American
Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">The Sapir
–Whorf Hypothesis states that language is created because there is a way and
need to express ideas, that the language used represents the culture and
therefore expresses ideas in a way that reflects attitudes, often without a
filter or censorship.<span style> </span>It goes on
to state that we are our language.<span style>
</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">Stephen Adly
Guirgis, in his script, MOTHERFUCKER WITH A HAT, illustrates this hypothesis
well.<span style> </span>This is true not only in his
choice of a title, but the way in which his characters speak, listen, and react
to words. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">Publicists
for Guirgis’s play, which has been dubbed a “high octane verbal cage match
about love, fidelity and misplaced haberdashery,” had troubles when the show
opened in 2011 in New York.<span style> </span>Some
newspapers refused to print the “real” title or even take advertising, so the
producers had to change the play’s name to THE MOTHERF**KER WITH A HAT.<span style> </span>It’s going to be interesting to
see how the more conservative local papers handle the writings about the show
which is now on stage at Dobama.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">As for the characters,
four out of the five use language that might be called offensive, in polite
society.<span style> </span>Why did Guiris use almost
every four letter word in the English language?<span style> </span>He was reflecting the way that the people he was depicting
really would talk.<span style> </span>These are
individuals who were brought up in environments where this language is common,
the language of the streets, the words that get to the base level of
expression.<span style> </span>It’s not comfortable
language for traditional theatre-goers, but it is the real language of some real
people.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">The story
centers on Jackie, a former drug dealer, who has just been released from
prison.<span style> </span>He not only has to conform
to his rules of release, which includes participating in a twelve-step program,
but has to adapt to dealing with societal rules.<span style> </span>This is not made easier by having a girlfriend like
Veronica, who is a cocaine and pot user and has been having an affair while
Jackie was incarcerated.<span style> </span>His problems
are amplified by having an addiction sponsor, Ralph D, who speaks in clichés,
is living a life which lacks reality, is in conflict with his wife, and turns
out to be Veronica’s lover.<span style>
</span>Jackie, in a rage over finding a hat in the apartment that he shares
with Veronica, assumes that her lover is the downstairs neighbor.<span style> </span>Jackie gets a gun, proceeds to give the
hat back to its supposed owner, and shoots a hole in the chapeau.<span style> </span>Thus, the play gets it’s name and spins
out of control.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">A 2011
production, which starred Chris Rock, the king of smut-mouth stand up comedy,
opened to mixed reviews in the Big Apple.<span style>
</span>The show received a median grade of B- according to <i style>StageGrade</i> (<a href="http://www.stagegrade.com">http://www.stagegrade.com</a>) which, like the local area’s
<a href="http://clevelandtheatrereviews.com">clevelandtheatrereviews.com</a>, reports summary reviews of New York
productions.<span style> </span>In spite of the less
than stellar comments, it ran to over 90% capacity during its run, mainly due
to Rock’s drawing power and the shock value of the title.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">MOTHERF**KER
is not an easy play to sit through.<span style>
</span>The characters have few redeeming qualities, the language is rough, and the
conclusion somewhat unsatisfying.<span style>
</span>Yet, in spite of this, the characters are so clearly etched, the violent
grip of addiction clearly spotlighted, the living life with false hopes exposed,
the problems created by helplessness highlighted, the meaning of moral
relativism exposed, and the concept that some people refuse to be loved
amplified, a play which could be off-setting, turns out to be fascinating.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Dobama’s production, under the adept direction
of Dianne Boduszek, is spot on.<span style>
</span>The author’s intent and purpose are well developed.<span style> </span>The production does not run from the
needed gruffness of the language, but embraces it so that even the most
sensitive ear can simply accept the expression as the authentic voice of these
people.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">There is not a weakness in the professional
cast.<span style> </span>Jeremy Kendall, who embraces
the role, is enthralling as the addicted, explosively emotional Jackie.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Charles Kartali is properly smug and phony as
Ralph D., the sponsor from hell.<span style>
</span>Anjanette Hall clearly creates a Veronica who reacts and responds from a
background filled with angst.<span style>
</span>Bernadette Clemens effectively makes Ralph D’s wife into a woman caught
in a charade of life, who needs to escape.<span style> </span>Jimmie Woody creates in Cousin Julio, Jackie’s relative, a
fey character who seems to be the only person who has some semblance of
clarity.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><i style><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: THE MOTHERF**KER
WITH THE HAT, </span></i><span style="font-family:Palatino">the play that dare not speak its name,
has a lot to say.<span style> </span>In spite of the
almost immediate negative reaction of some people to the title, the production
makes for a very compelling evening of theatre.<span style> </span>Congrats to Dobama for not steering away from the script
because of the title and the realistic language.</span><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:#353535"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">MOTHERF**KER runs
through October 7 at Dobama.<span style> </span>Call
216-932-3396 or <a href="http://www.dobama.org">www.dobama.org</a> for tickets.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center"><b style><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">INTERPLAY JEWISH THEATRE
</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Interplay Jewish Theatre, with the purpose of
reestablishing a Jewish theatre presence in the Cleveland area, will present
its next production,</span><span style="font-family:Palatino"> <span style>Leah Napolin's THE DOGS OF
PRIPYAT on Sunday, November 4, at 2 p.m. at Lakeland Community College. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The story centers on the real situation in which residents
of the areas near</span><span style="font-family:Palatino"> Chernobyl, Russia, in the wake of the 1986 nuclear meltdown, were ordered
to evacuate, and told to leave their pets behind. <span style> </span>In her adult fable, Napolin, who is best known for her
Broadway hit YENTL, tries to envision how her own dog might have fared in a
post-human world. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Tickets
are free. For reservations, information and offers of support, contact </span><a href="mailto:interplayjewishtheatre@gmail.com"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:windowtext;text-decoration:none">interplayjewishtheatre@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-family:Palatino">.</span><span style="font-family:Palatino"></span></p>
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