In the current age, Hollywood is considered one of the most powerful communities in the world, with its large population of celebrities whose lives and actions are the source of fascination and admiration for so many people. In “Matthew Modine Saves the Alpacas,” written by Blair Singer and playing at the Geffen Playhouse until Oct. 18, the celebrity culture is taken apart and parodied for laughs.
The play is about that one word that plagues celebrities from time to time: “comeback,” or rather, how to go about orchestrating a comeback. Matthew Modine, played by none other than Matthew Modine himself, is trying to return to the A-list after hanging around in relative obscurity for too long. To do that, he enlists the help of publicist Whimberly North (Peri Gilpin) to help him find a charity to benefit his name. The charity is to save the Chimborazzi alpacas in Ecuador, which are on the bridge of extinction. Hilarity, some racial stereotypes, Hollywood commentary and sexual humor ensue.
On paper, it seems as if this would all be particularly relevant considering that this is Los Angeles, yet the play suffers from that which plagues all parodies: overacting. The actors seem as if they lack the skills to interpret the material, which seems unlikely considering their resumes. Modine comes across as so over-the-top that, even when he tries to have a sincere and profound character moment, it comes across as false. This is detrimental because his insincerity makes it hard for the audience to root for and care about Modine’s triumphs. Most of his scenes, such as one where he and Whimberly are taking part in a passionate moment, come across as more awkward than actually funny.
Consequently, most of the funny moments within the play come across as flat. With no character for the audience to truly care about, the play lacks that emotional core that would elevate it from a parody to a real piece of societal commentary, which is a pity since the public fascination with celebrity culture was something that was begging to be parodied.
There are some shining, clever moments, such as parts satirizing the Hollywood fixation with quiet, art films and anything dealing with the Holocaust. And it also brings to glaring focus the public’s herd-like (no pun intended) mentality of following the celebrity, where charities are only relevant if there is an A-list star supporting it. Not to mention that the moments involving the actual alpaca llamas, represented with puppets, were quite hilarious, though in a mature way.
Yet without an emotional core to tie the many stereotypes and inappropriate jokes together, the play is merely forgettable.
““ Diep Tran
E-mail Tran at dtran@media.ucla.edu