Kate Huffman, Alina Phelan and Sean Faye (Photo by Gloria Ines Olivas)
Reviewed by Terry Morgan
Lightning Rod Theater
Through September 22
Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, first produced in 1938, has always been a popular play, from frequent star-studded revivals (featuring the likes of Paul Newman, Michael Shannon, Spalding Gray, Margaret Hamilton and Henry Fonda) to ubiquitous community theater and high school productions. It’s been adapted into radio, film, ballet and musical versions (one of which included Frank Sinatra as the Stage Manager and gave us Married… With Children’s later theme song, “Love and Marriage”). But to the best of my knowledge, it hasn’t been combined with Euripedes’ 431 BC Medea until now. Tony Foster’s clever romp through the history of Western theater, Medea Comes to Our Town, gets a funny and well-acted world premiere by Lightning Rod Theater, but at 2.5 hours, it outstays its welcome a bit.
In 1901 Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire, the Stage Manager (Tony Foster) informs us that we’re in the play Our Town and proceeds to introduce us to some of the main characters. The Doctor’s Wife (Alina Phelan) is busy with housework, getting no help from her baseball-crazy Son (Sean Faye) or her money-obsessed Daughter (Kate Huffman). One day, Greek tragedy character Medea (Cherish Monique Duke), time-traveling the world of theater as research for writing a play (“Macbeth meets Guys and Dolls”) of her own, shows up in town with her ancient Nurse (Lynn Odell) in tow. The Doctor’s Wife is a gracious host to Medea, and Medea tries to repay the favor by urging her to give in to her most selfish desires.
Phelan is terrific as the Doctor’s Wife, expert at playing both the repressed and wilder versions of the role, though she seems to be having more fun when the character cuts loose. Huffman is amusing as the pugnacious Daughter and is even better as a masked mistress with a broad New York accent and stylized actions. Faye scores in multiple parts, from a smug, masked dentist in a Neil Simon play to a blunt Ophelia in denial about her suicide.
Duke is high energy and hilarious as the conceited Medea (as she says, you know, “Medea from Medea”), and she’s especially great in a scene in which she graphically displays the nature of desire to the Doctor’s Wife. Odell is excellent as the Nurse, who’s seen too much and only desires death, and also as a vengeful character who expresses her Medea-esque side. Foster is charming and witty as the omniscient Stage Manager, making theater jokes and praising the cast of his own show – “They memorized lines and everything!”
Director Jaime Robledo displays great skill, from his innovative staging (especially a sequence in which a couple of wheels, a ghost light and several actors create a flying chariot ride) to his effective use of masks and exaggerated movement in the Cactus Flower scene. His sound design adds notably to the show, from lo-fi thunder effects to the memorable noise of viscera hitting the ground after axe violence.
Medea Comes to Our Town is Foster’s love letter to theater, and his knowledge of the subject is thorough. From his opinions on Our Town (“Important. American. Dated.”) to his frequent asides about Seussical the Musical, and references to playwrights as varied as Lauren Gunderson, David Auburn and David Mamet, Foster creates a vivid sense of theater as an important continuum.
Still, even with its scintillating ideas, the play needs editing. Several scenes felt to me extraneous or stretched out, such the Nurse’s critique of theater history, the discussion of The Odd Couple or an admittedly well-staged ten-minute version of Cactus Flower.
Foster is a gifted writer and performer, and his play is worth the effort of some thoughtful trimming.
McCadden Place Theater, 1157 N. McCadden Place, Hollywood; Fri. —Sat. 8:00 p.m., Sun. 3:00 p.m.; through September 22. https://lightningrodtheater.ludus.com Running time: two hours and thirty minutes with one intermission.
