The Mother-F**ker With the Hat

Reviewed by Lovell Estell III
Gloria Gifford Conservatory
Through August 26

Plays about broken people dealing with issues of addiction, violence, and toxic sexuality are legion, but they don’t always translate into provocative and humorous theater. Both qualities are found in this dour comedy by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis. Initially premiering at the Lost Studio four years ago, it’s back on the local stage after a successful run at the 2017 Fringe Festival.

The play is set in a downscale New York neighborhood and follows the unfortunate plight of a pair of mismatched couples victimized by their own appalling self-destructiveness. After a twenty-six-month stint in prison, Jackie (Danny Siegel), returns home to his coquettish skank of a girl-friend Veronica (Raven Bowens) with a steady job and hopes for a future free of alcohol and substance abuse. The reunion is happy — filled with salacious talk, gestures, and flowery promises, even though Veronica is a bona fide addict and snorts coke with fiendish gusto.

When she steps out momentarily to shower, Jackie notices a hat sitting on a nearby table and immediately suspects (after hilariously sniffing at the bed), that Veronica has been involved with another man. When she returns, he confronts her, saying among other things, that the bed, “smells like Aqua Velva and dick.”  She responds with predictable denial, but it’s apparent that she’s lying through her teeth; the ensuing skirmish — she picks up a bottle, breaks it, and threatens him with it — uncorks a torrent of high-decibel, blistering invectives that convert the once promising gathering into an ugly Battle Royale.

 Soon after, Jackie seeks solace and counsel from his unctuous, smooth-talking AA sponsor Ralph D. (Keith Walker), but his admonitions about sticking with the program, and the importance of good diet and yoga aren’t quite good enough to allay Jackie’s suspicions. Ultimately, his quest to find the identity of the “motherfucker with the hat,” places him in serious legal jeopardy, and forces him to confront some crushing truths about himself, Ralph D., his terminally unhappy, alcoholic wife Victoria (Leana Chavez), and Veronica.

Guirgis cleverly drops these characters into the arena and lets them claw away at each other until they are stripped bare by their own self-destructive flaws and deceptions, and he does so with hefty doses of devilish humor and gutter level language that might offend those with tender ears (hey, this is New York, and these characters aren’t patricians).

Director Gloria Gifford’s staging is simple and straightforward, making effective use of the venue’s cavernous interior. The expansive stage is constructed into three parts that neatly function as differing locales (smartly arranged by Lucy Walsh and Chad Doreck). There is, however, a need here for sharper pacing. There are stretches that grind along interminably and detract from what otherwise is a good production. Performances are excellent, particularly those by Bowers and Walker. Rounding out the cast is Benito Paje as Cousin Julio.

Note: the production is multiply cast.

Gloria Gifford Conservatory, 6502 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood; Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7:30 p.m., through August 26. (310) 366-5505 or www.tix.com. Running time: 100 minutes with no intermission.