Prologue Theatre: Muffed

 Prologue is one of my favorite small Theatre Companies.  It has an indomitable spirit that just refuses to not exist, though it has never been able to find a resident space.  It has been able to use other spaces when available, and when not, it does a wonderful job of thinking outside of the box.  Back when it first began, it rented a little space behind a CVS Pharmacy and a Nail Salon in the middle of a residential corridor of Arlington, VA.  The space was used for an office, storage, and rehearsal.  Now it's also where they produce works.

To say it is intimate is to not begin to describe the feeling I got.  The performance space is carved out of the rest of the room and is wide enough to accommodate approximately 16 seats in three tiered rows with a modest aisle up the middle.  On one side is a deck with the tech person.  And it's deep enough for 8 actors to perform and move around one another without having to sit on anyone's lap in the front row.  The closest thing I can compare it to is Constellation Theatre at The Source (though it's lost access to that venue after this season, so who's to say?)  In such a space, you're certainly not going to do Oklahoma or Les Miserables; but a play like Zack Peercy's "Muffed: A Recounting Of Farmington, Maine's 43rd Annual Chester Greenwood Day Devised By the Members Of The Meaningful Action Theatre Company" works just fine.  And for some reason--probably because the pre-title statement reads "The Meaningful Action Theatre Company Presents A Workshop Reading Of:" yadda yadda yadda... I came expecting a workshop reading!  The show is VERY meta.  And it's also exactly what it says in the pre-title/title.  

Eight members of this fictitious small town theatre company travel from their homes in Pennsylvania to spend a week interviewing all the good folks of Farmington, Maine about their festival dedicated to the inventor of the ear muffs.  City Officials, the local College Presidents and members of her staff, towns folks and students all pop-up and down in a tarantella that unravels the absurdity and the tenderness of the participants--even the members of the Theatre Company are not immune from revelations and petty rivalries that turn into something more significant.  To quote the director from his notes in the program: "...sometimes the seemingly ordinary is actually extraordinary and that we all have at least a little of that within us."

The horrible thing about being in an audience in a room where the lights are on for everyone's benefit, because there are no stage lights, per se; is that you are as exposed as the actors.  They are also looking at you!  When you have the gift of anonymity via darkness, you can experience the play without thought to what your face may or may not be expressing.  But when at any given moment, a member of the cast can lock their eyes on yours, even when they are not participating in the scene being staged; well, it's unsettling as worst, and just not something I'm trained to manage at best.  

The play is written so that each actor plays not only themselves, but 3 other characters.  The genders of these others bears no particular association with the actor's apparent manifestations of gender.  In contemporary theatre, this is not uncommon, and for an actor I should think that it can be a lot of fun--but in a play with so many characters--it can require additional concentration (or is that my 64-year-old brain talking?).  And which such a challenge, each of the members of this ensemble were on their toes, too!  I enjoyed everyone's contribution, but have to say that few stood out a little taller than the others.  

Fabiola da Silva's take on Mayor Abe McGuinn was one that just grew on you over time, and she had a couple of the most interesting bits as Company Member #3, too.  If you're familiar with the British Comedian Bridget Christie, I kept finding myself making comparisons between the two.  Emily Erikson's take on Deb in Accounting with her Shakespeare-speak was absolutely delightful.  Sam Slottow as the frustrated Junior Member of the troop, suddenly thrust into understudying the role of the mysteriously missing Derek, but whom no one respects until suddenly he finds himself portraying the ghost of Opera Diva Lady Nordica (another celebrity born in Farmington, ME) whom with his help explodes upon the stage in true diva fashion--well, a Prima Donna extraordinaire is born!

However, the glue that sets the tone and holds the pitch from start to finish is Robert Bowen Smith's Company Leader/University President Wendy Simmons/8-year-old Andy Sezzler Gingerbread House Maker/Aunt Eustice that really kept things shining.  Another comparison--a young William H. Macy with all the spunky-tude of Scott Thomas' "Kids in the Hall" character, Buddy Cole on a caffeine rush!  

Given sparse circumstances, the acting is all.  And this crew of actors made it happen.  They were entertaining, they were accessible, they were relatable, believable and endearing.  Well done!

The Entire Ensemble [L-R]: Robert Bowen Smith, Emily Zinski, Aron Spellane, Fabiolla da Silva, Joshua O. Olujide, Emily Erikson, Sam Slottow and Rachel Johns.

Three members in one of the many moments of intensity: Aron Spellane (middle) as Company Member 6 finds himself babysitting twins (left)  Emily Zinski as Randy Sezzler-age 6 and (right) Robert Bowen Smith as Andy Sezzler-age 8.  "Someone" has sabotaged Andy's Gingerbread contest entry...