Let’s get silly
Gonzales shines as playwright, actor
by Christopher Key
One of the essential qualities of a good actor is that she is not afraid to make a fool of herself. One of the essential qualities of a good playwright is that he is not afraid to be silly. Those qualities are demonstrated amply in the Whatcom Community College production of Misshapen Identities: Four Short Comedies About Selves Lost and Found, opening this week in the Syre Student Center’s Black Box Theatre.
Three of the four short comedies are written by John Gonzales, WCC humanities instructor and Bull Goose Loony of the local theatrical community. The fourth play is written by David Mason, assistant professor of theatre at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. According to the notes by director Gerry Large, Gonzales and Mason are friends and it’s easy to see why. Further, deponent sayeth not.
First out of the gate is Garg Love Willy of Garg, a Gonzales confection about a determinedly middle-class family hosting a pair of Neanderthal exchange students. It’s a Pythonesque romp that thoroughly skewers the culture wars that characterize our post-modern society. Jessica Koehler and Joel Simler shine as the ultimate sitcom parents trying to assimilate the Neanderthals, played to prehistoric perfection by Elayne Bubb and Todd Gibbs. My only gripe was that the actors often spoke too rapidly to be understood. Probably preview night jitters, since they all settled down as the play progressed.
David Mason’s contribution, What? Are You Crazy? showcases Gonzales as a shrink who is demonstrably loonier that his client. His client is named Sybil, which should make it obvious that she is suffering from multiple personality disorder. Alice Despopoulos delivers a tour-de-force performance, shifting from one personality to the other with disturbing ease. It’s not as easy as she makes it look.
Gonzales’ Unfruited Plains examines the ins and outs (if you’ll excuse the expression) of modern reproduction. Todd Gibbs and Elayne Bubb exemplify the agonizing choices facing infertile would-be parents and how they sublimate those worries by focusing on choosing a politically correct name for their anticipated offspring. Gonzales is devastatingly funny as an unfulfilled spermatozoon and Joel Simler is disgustingly sleazy as a fertility counselor.
In true showbiz fashion, the best is saved for last with Gonzales’ Mad Scientist4. This is a loving and thoroughly over-the-top homage to all the B-movie monster films you have ever seen. The ingenious set, designed by Nathan Dodge, almost steals the show from the cast. It features enough gimcrackery and geegawery to delight the most jaded of low-budget horror movie fans.
Trevor Van Houten camps it up as a mad scientist in Whatcom Community College's production of Misshapen Identities: Four Short Comedies About Selves Lost and Found.
That said, the actors steal the show right back with delightfully wacky performances. Chief among these is the astonishing Trevor Van Houten, who portrays a hunchbacked, transvestite mad scientist with obvious relish and the same physicality that made him stand out in last spring’s The Laramie Project. Chelsea Cady is also riveting as the Minstrel (Menstrual?) of Science with her insane giggle and versatile voice.
Whatcom Community College is an enormously fertile field for theatrical talent and this production shows it off in fine form. Misshapen Identities plays November 13 – 15 and 20 – 23, 7:30 p.m., at the Syre Student Center Black Box Theatre. General admission is $5.
Check your pomposity at the door.
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