Ignacio Navarro, David Brent Tucker, and Jennifer Ashe (Photo by Sebastian Muñoz)
Reviewed by Martίn Hernández
Force of Nature Productions at the Sawyer’s Playhouse
Through November 22
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s senior citizen superheroes! Ensconced in a nursing home, three unsteady but stalwart superheroes battle their perennial nemesis in playwright Thomas J. Misuraca’s corny comedy. Misuraca imagines what happens when aging superheroes hang up their capes for walkers and wheelchairs yet desperately cling to relevancy in their golden years.
While his premise is promising and the actors are dedicated to their cartoonish characters, the production is fraught with cliched jokes about the aged and unsteady performances from some cast members. On the other hand, Misuraca effectively explores the valid concerns of many senior citizens, with the play’s ultimate message being that even without superpowers and regardless of age, there are superheroes all around us.
The powers of the Heroes were developed through a government sponsored DNA-enhancement program. That had been decades ago; since then, the members of the League have often challenged those wanting to destroy or take over the world. Now, though, they’ve been reluctantly put out to pasture by the same bureaucracy that fostered them. Most of the elder members are now comatose or otherwise incapacitated, while the younger ones are more concerned with the latest fashions and with garnering social media followers.
Three older League members, however, still have most of their faculties intact. There is Power Man (a loopy David Brent Tucker), the ostensible leader, whose flying power and memory seem to be fading; Lightning Lex (a delightfully grumpy Ignacio Navarro) who used to be able to run around the Earth in twenty minutes but now depends on a wheelchair for less-than-speedy mobility; and Mighty Girl (Jennifer Ashe) who still has a super grip but longs to use it on someone to love. Rather than fighting evil, the trio bicker amongst themselves over old gripes and who should oversee their dwindling numbers.
When Mr. Malevolent (a shaky Dennis Delsing), the League’s long-time enemy with his own formidable powers, mysteriously moves into their facility, he insists he has changed. But the dynamic trio know better. Aided by wannabe superhero Masked Man (an endearing Richard Van Slyke), a normie resident who has a crush on Mighty Girl, they join forces to foil the evildoer’s nefarious scheme.
Adding comic relief are Barbara Ann Howard’s Ruthie, a crusty regular resident annoyed at the superheroes’ antics, and Heather Vasquez’s ditzy care worker, Nurse Candy. While Delsing’s faltering with lines diminishes Mr. Malevolent’s wicked demeanor, he and others in the cast improvise their way out of that dilemma with assurance. Director Aurora Culver keeps things moving at a timely pace with a humorous nod to the legacy of comic books, epitomized in a goofy fight scene choreographed by Jahel Caldera.
Melissa Munoz’s costume design delivers a multi-colored comic book flair. Munoz’s makeup work on Van Slyke’s Kirby, coupled with Matthew Scheel’s lighting, offers a gruesome special effect.
Force of Nature Productions at Sawyer’s Playhouse, 11031 Camarillo St., N. Hollywood.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru Nov. 22. fonprods.thundertix.com Running time: 95 minutes with a 10 minute intermission.
