Reviewed by F. Kathleen Foley
Theatre West
Through Dec. 7
RECOMMENDED
Playwright Clara Rodriguez certainly doesn’t hold back in Pointy Scissors, now having its world premiere at Theatre West. Rapid-fire in pace and convoluted, the play is a farce in the truest sense of the word. Rodriguez, who also directs, encourages her actors to heights of excess, while we, deer in the headlights, lie down and allow her careening vehicle run us over.
It seems like an ordinary day when Betty (Angela Bruning) first arrives at the small barber shop she runs with her brother, Arnie (Steve Young), a simple, sweet soul not equipped to navigate the world. However, after they exchange a few pleasantries, Betty realizes something is seriously amiss. It seems that Arnie had gotten into a tussle with Carlos (Anibal Silveyra),their sole customer of the day — a confrontation that ended with Arnie inadvertently sticking a pair of scissors into Carlos’s ear. Now Carlos lies dead in the shop’s storeroom, while the fiercely protective Betty, who wants to shield her different-drummer sibling from the fallout of his actions, must figure out their next move.
Enter Sammy (Richy Storrs), an unlikely champion. He’s looking for Carlos, the murderous loan shark who will kill Sammy unless he pays what he owes — today. A compulsive gambler on parole, who lives with his mother and is completely broke, Sammy is a certifiable mess who takes a real shine to Betty and offers to help dispose of the body.
Betty’s spoiled sister, the many times married Deborah (Danielle Weeks), is also a real mess of an individual who is planning her latest marriage — a disaster in the making. She wants Betty to help fit their mother’s wedding dress, and soon becomes embroiled in the unfolding nuttiness. When Carlos’s jealous, knife-wielding girlfriend Molly (Monika Vidakovic) arrives, the night truly goes off the rails.
As the sensible straight woman surrounded by a bevy of lunatics, Bruning seems somewhat subdued and sometimes outshone by the more hyper performances around her. Silveyra, in a lurching turn that would do Frankenstein proud, and Young, as a literal-minded innocent who lives shy of reality, are the comical standouts of the evening. Rodriguez’s play eventually segues into strained silliness, and her runway train eventually jumps the tracks. Still, the actors are clearly having fun on their wild ride — and so are we.
Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. W., L.A. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 3 p.m. thru Dec. 7. http://theatrewest.org Running time: 85 minutes with no intermission.
