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Regional Reviews: St. Louis LaBute New Theater Festival Also see Richard's review of Pride and Joy
You'll get your money's worth, and possibly even forget who you are, by the end of the two hour and forty-five minute extravaganza (with intermission). This year's world premieres are thoughtfully directed by Avery Harrison and Bryn McLaughlin. And if you're wondering what to wear, please note that it was a bit warm in the theater the night I went. But what do you expect at the (sometimes comical) gates of Hell? The festival's namesake, writer and director Neil LaBute, is the author of the grand finale of this year's live event. And it all starts out with Aleks Merilo's Teotwawki, featuring a tour-de-force performance by Sarah Wilkinson as a teenage girl with a bad case of cabin fever. She seems to fantasize about being a DJ on a primitive radio set, under the direction of Bryn McLaughlin, in a story that plays out in the desert west of Flagstaff, Arizona. In Ms. Wilkinson's heart-in-the-throat performance, Teotwawki develops into a state of high suspense. Xander Huber and Reagan Posey-Mank make furtive appearances after a predatory voiceover by Tyler Crandall. And we learn a fair bit about chasing rabbits along the way. But trouble's always reinventing itself. And in Tracy Carns' Poor Me, actress Claire Coffey goes steep downhill as Cleo, an ex-advertising exec who's barely clinging to her old professional identity, and thinking she's pulling it off. Even though she's squatting in an abandoned apartment building. Under Ms. McLaughlin's direction, Xander Huber is excellent as Tad, Cleo's former roommate, hopelessly trying to evict her, and bargaining (on behalf of his landlord father) in a scene rarely seen on stage, outside of hundred year-old melodramas. There are two good reversals near the end, amidst the brutal inequalities of modern city life. And then you're rewarded after all that with a fine dark comedy. Hungry Women, written by Melissa Maney, caps off the first half, with American accents. But it could almost be Oscar Wilde or Monty Python, as we learn the menfolk have all dropped dead in their tracks somewhere in the 18th or 19th century. And the food's run out. So what's a girl to do? Ms. Wilkinson returns as one of these Hungry Women, suddenly wearing her late husband's clothing, and with a broadly masculine swagger. Lots of frilly social norms are lined up like teacups, just waiting to be smashed to bits. The lovable Ms. Posey-Mank, along with Ms. Coffey and the very impressive Maclean Blanner, all play the rest of the new widows. Avery Harrison directs with a light comic touch, and the splendid, malleable stage set and lighting are by Patrick Huber, with perfect cues run by Joe Intagliata. (A secondary theme of the festival, of hunting and trapping, recurs in Hungry Women: Ms. Posey-Mank has an odd soliloquy about learning the manly art of an outdoorsy life from her father.) That first half of the evening is ninety minutes long. But we gladly return after intermission for A Modest Proposal by David MacGregor, overseen by director Harrison. The diminutive Ms. Wilkinson plays a larger-than-life business analyst, with a bold (and shocking) idea to re-energize late-stage capitalism by using people who've taken out a lot of college loans, for example. Mr. Crandall and Ms. Posey-Mank are her comical Fortune 500 clients: he has a sort of penis-envy over the size of his yacht; and Ms. Posey-Mank proudly boasts of gaming the system to get ahead. Harrison also directs Carpool, by Dave Carley, which comes to resemble a zombie invasion as we follow a trio of co-workers on their way to their big city government jobs, all in one vehicle. Potholes, construction zones, and turnip people make for a well-choreographed series of twists and turns. The one-act features a comically witless Ms. Coffey, the younger Mr. Huber as a subtly wacky intern, and Ms. Blanner as a sleek, corner-office exec in her self-driving Tesla. There's a thrilling air of competition on stage throughout, among the performers, as if they were racing for a gold medal all at once. The costumes and wigs nicely exceed our expectations, thanks to Abby Pastorello. And Emma Glose is similarly fierce in her devotion to finding the perfect props, down to and including a clever desktop calendar. And finally, you're in a different league in playwright LaBute's novella-length Scenes from a Bookstore, set in the Hamptons and directed by Ms. McLaughlin. It becomes a grinding test of human desire and loyalty. A flirty young husband runs into his very charming ex, or ex-dalliance, at a quaint bookstore with increasingly awful (but strangely elegant) results, in a story with its own guilt binding. It's as if Mr. LaBute had somehow discovered a new American version of the "Edwardian" style, which was lightly mocked in the earlier one-act, Hungry Women. Here, the lover's triangle is fraught with modern manners and an unspoken class consciousness that drags us all around on a chain. Mr. Crandall plays the player-husband, and Ms. Coffey returns as his austere wife. Ms. Blanner is the inescapably charming girl from his past–with a girlish giggle that becomes ironic–in the "hunting and trapping" motif of the evening. The 11th annual LaBute New Theater Festival, produced by St. Louis Actors' Studio, runs through July 27, 2025, at Gaslight Theatre, 360 North Boyle Avenue, St. Louis MO. For tickets and information, please visit www.stlas.org. Teotwawki Cast: Poor Me Cast: Hungry Women Cast: A Modest Proposal Cast: Carpool Cast: Scenes from a Bookstore Cast: Production Staff: * Denotes Member, Actors' Equity Association |
