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The Western Unscripted
Reviewed by Deborah Klugman
Falcon Theatre
Through October 5
Improvising a new play every night is Impro Theatre’s hallmark promise, whether they’re parodying Chekhov, Shakespeare, Jane Austen or, in the case of their latest production at the Falcon Theatre, the American Western genre.
The staples of the latter are fairly consistent: a sheriff, a gunman, a greedy bad guy, a loyal deputy, and a bar gal who has a thing for the hero. There’s usually a land grab or a struggle for power between the goodies and the baddies. There’s a decisive shootout. The good guy wins. Justice triumphs. In other words, you can make an argument that, with a few sterling exceptions, if you’ve seen one Western, you’ve seen them all.
All the above components found their way into the IT show I recently attended, which featured ensemble regulars Brian Lohmann as the sheriff, Dan O’Connor as the tough guy, and Paul Rogan as the tough guy’s nefarious boss, Mr. Malone. An appealing Nick Massouh assumed the role of a wide-eyed neophyte deputy making biographical notes about the sheriff. A prickly element to the plot developed around O’Connor’s muscleman and his physical intimidation of his girlfriend.
Co-directors O’Connor, Stephen Kearin and their colleagues are seasoned quick-on-the-draw satirists, but their zingers – and there were funny ones, certainly – didn’t generate quite as many laughs for me as usual. Some of that may have to do with the source material. Burlesquing an already clichéd genre may not offer as many opportunities to wow as burlesquing Shakespeare in iambic pentameter, or making literary chicken-salad from Chekhov.
The Falcon Theater is a well-equipped venue and its resources are here aptly mined by tech director Mike Jespersen, lighting designer Leigh Allen and sound improviser Alex Caan, whose effects punctuate the story with comic precision. That contributes to a polished product -– not a bad thing, but a bit at odds with intimate off-the-cuff improvisation.
The Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank; Wed.-Sat. 8 p.m.; Sun., 4 p.m.; through Oct. 5. (818) 955-8101, falcontheatre.com
