Monday, August 24, 1998
One Act Wonders
THEATRE: ‘MET a Magic,’ the new production from Hollywood’s MET
Theater, delivers a mixed bag of both entertaining and mundane
short plays
By Lonnie Harris
Daily Bruin Staff
In five short one-act plays, collectively known as "MET a
Magic," the new MET Theater acting troupe manages to deal with
issues ranging from pedophilia to modern dating to cannibalism. And
this includes an intermission.
The collection of one-acts, running every Thursday and Saturday
at the MET Theater in Hollywood, is understandably inconsistent, as
each production is written, directed and performed by different
members of the troupe. This means that certain plays are highly
entertaining while other portions of the production are likely to
induce dissatisfaction, boredom or both. The underlying flaw of the
entire production of "MET a Magic" is that these plays are placed
in a strange order, with both dramas grouped at the beginning and
the comedies at the end. Spreading these one-acts around might make
for a more smooth and entertaining production overall.
The first one-act, "Mute" is unfortunately one of the plays
which will induce dissatisfaction. The story concerns two girls who
get into a fight in high school and are brought to the counseling
office. Soon, the mother of one of the girls is brought in and
revealed to be insane, which creates a whole new set of insights
into the nature of the juvenile brawl. While "Mute" is well-acted
and initially has an engaging story, the writing is silly and even
nonsensical. Most likely, Carolyn Carpenter’s script would have
benefitted from a few more rewrites to further fine-tune some of
the characters’ more false moments.
The second drama, "Sons of the Father," centers around two
brothers reuniting after 13 years, on the occasion of their
father’s death. While one son, played impeccably by Wilson Bell,
remains loyal to his Dad, the other still blames his father for his
problems and refuses to be at peace with his past. Unlike "Mute,"
the writing in "Sons of the Father" is tight, witty and very
realistic, making this drama riveting.
After these two heavy dramatic pieces, "MET a Magic" proceeds to
comedy with the best piece of the evening, "The Outside In." Here,
an angry and disillusioned young man (played by the piece’s writer
Abraham Amedeo) has a fevered conversation with God about life, the
inconsistencies in the Bible and the history of the universe.
Amedeo’s script manages to point out all of the flaws of organized
religion while maintaining a light and funny tone, mainly by making
his God character (Randall Rapstine) an amusing – and a little bit
effeminate – caricature.
Another comedy, "The Rental," can’t quite compare with its
riotous predecessor, but still provides some light and breezy humor
through its outrageous plotting. A woman named Sonya wakes up one
morning to find that her best friend has rented her a boyfriend for
a day. The story may not be believable, and some of Sonya’s
reactions only re-enforce this observation, but the piece is short
and funny, making it a welcome addition to the production.
Unfortunately, "MET a magic" ends on a down note with "Cannibals
Gone Bad," a ridiculous and lackluster addition by Alex Dremann.
The story, as much as it can be described, takes place in a fantasy
world where the queen eats her subjects one by one and the people
hope that one day they will be given the honor of being digested by
their matriarch.
"Cannibals Gone Bad" is obviously meant as a comedy, but its
set-up is too juvenile and its writing is far too ridiculous to
provide any real laughs, making the play long and tedious.
Overall, "MET a Magic" contains a fair share of worthy moments.
However, the best parts of the show are often overshadowed by the
bizarre pacing and organization, which put all the heavy drama in
the beginning, all the comedy in the middle and leaves the audience
with a decidedly non-funny comedy.Photos courtesy of Dennis J.
Ken
(Left to right) Denise Devin, Allaire Paterson, Carolyn Lawrence
and Susan M. Carr star in "Mute," one of a group of one-act plays
now being performed at the MET Theater.
Max (kneeling), played by Abraham Amedeo, has a conversation
with God, played by Randall Rapstine, in the play "The Outside In,"
part of the series "MET a Magic."