Crow’s Theatre/Comfort Food, written by Zorana Sadiq, directed by Mitchell Cushman, Studio Theatre, Streetcar Crow’s Nest, closes June 8. Tickets: crows theatre.com.
Ungapotched is a word in Yiddish that means too much, and that is what Zorana Sadiq’s new play is. Too much set, too much props, too much themes – which is not to say that the play in all its too muchness is not entertaining because it is, and it is certainly worth a visit.
Bette (Sadiq) is a single mother with a bland cooking show that’s tanking in the ratings. Before she got picked up by the network, she was on YouTube and often cooked with her young son Kit (whom she lovingly calls KitKat) and who is now a surly teenager (Noah Grittani). When KitKat suggests he come on her show to boost her ratings, he has an ulterior motive. KitKat, an eco warrior, sabotages the show by accusing his mother of ignoring climate change and not ethically sourcing food etc.
KitKat’s appearance has an unexpected effect. Because it turns Bette into a social media pariah, as her agent Helen informs her (the voice of Aviva Armour-Orstroff), suddenly the producers are interested in her again and plan a more edgy show with Bette interviewing people with opposite opinions to her bland self – a guy who prints meat on a 3-D printer, a preppie doomsday guru, and a newbie farmer who lets hjs kids run wlld, all hilariously payed by young Gittani in his first professional role and who is a real talent to watch.
This is just the bare bones of what’s happening In this overloaded play, the heart of which is a failing mother/son relationship. KitKat has his own radical dark web YouTube channel and an increasingly challenging time with his school peers, all to his mother’s growing worries. There is a definite feeling that things are not going to turn out well, but, unfortunately, one of the play’s weaknesses is the ending. Sadiq fails to come to grips with this tension.
Sim Suzer’s complicated set, augmented by Tori Morrison’s video designs, includes the TV studio, Bette’s kitchen, the counter that comes apart to reveal KitKat’s bedroom and computer, living space in Bette’s home. In short, it is all too busy, and director Mitchell Cushman should have exercised better cntrol.
Where the director doesn’t falter is bringing out both strong character portrayals and deeply felt relationships. This production certainly benefits from charming performances from both Grttani and Sadiq, the latter being a talented playwright who needed a good editor-cum-dramaturge.
That being said, the play may be an overreach in ideas and scenography, but Sadiq’s concerns are certainly of the moment. And finally, kudos to sound designer Thomas Ryder Payne for composing not one, but two original opening jingles for Bette’s TV shows.
Araca Group, Worklight Productions, Lively Macabe Entertainment & Aged in Wood/ Clue LIVE ON STAGE!, based on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn, written by Sandy Rustin, additional material by Hunter Foster and Eric Price, based on the Paramount Motion Picture, based on the Hasbro board game CLUE, directed by Casey Hushion, Royal Alexandra Theatre,closes Jun. 8. Tickets Mirvish.com.
If you need a good laugh, drop everything and get yourself over to the Royal Alexandra Theatre to see Clue LIVE ON STAGE! Besides being hysterically funny, the show is also tremendously clever with excellent physical comedy and some of the wittiest dialogue ever.
The play, not to be confused with the 1997 musical, is based on the beloved 1985 cult Paramount movie. It debuted in 2017 at the Bucks County Playhouse and seems to have been in motion ever since.This present North American tour is based on the 2022 Paper Mill Playhouse production.
The premise is that six guests, all incognito, are invited to the Boddy mansion on a dark and stormy night in 1954.
The characters are drawn from the board game and/or the film. They include Wadsworth, an uptight British butler and narrator (Jeff Skowron); Yvette, a flirtatious French maid (Elisabeth Yancey); Miss Scarlet, a sardonic brothel madam (Sarah Hollis); Mrs. Peacock, a neurotic wife of a senator (Jennifer Allen); Mrs. White, a tragic widow many times over (Donna English); Colonel Mustard, a pompous and dense military man; (David Hess); Professor Plum, an academic lothario (Evan Zes); and Mr. Green, a timid, clumsy, and anxious rule-follower (John Shartzer).
It turns out that they are all being blackmailed by Mr. Boddy (Mark Jude Sullivan) and when he turns up murdered, it becomes a mad race to find out who is the killer. When oher bodies begin to pile up including the Cook, a Motorist, a Cop, and a Singing Telegram Girl, chaos reigns.
Lee Savage’s set design denoting the all-important rooms from the board game is brilliant, as are Jen Caprio’s costumes. Director Casey Hushion keeps things moving along at a furious clip.
In a cast of strong performances, Jeff Skowron is outstanding as Wadsworth. At one point, he retells everything that has happened to that point of the story in mime and words, and he brings down the house. It is an absolutely brilliant feat of acting.
All in all, Clue LIVE ON STAGE! is not to be missed for the sheer hillarity of it, and if you were a CLUE fanatic as a kid (as I was and still am), the show will resonate even more strongly.
Remember? Col. Mustard with a candlestick and the library?