Photo courtesy of ELATE
Reviewed by Madison Mellon
ELATE at Lincoln Stegman Theatre
Through August 30th
Photo courtesy of ELATE
Written in 1990, Alan Ayckbourn’s This Is Where We Came In was originally presented in two parts as a matinee for children and families—they could see one or both parts and even see them out of order. Watching ELATE’s production, it’s easy to see why this was the case. I can’t think of a child who would be eager to sit through this two-and-a-half-hour, frequently repetitive fairy tale. Unfortunately, it’s unclear who this show is for. It doesn’t quite have the thematic depth or maturity to appeal to adults, yet expecting it to hold a child’s attention late into the evening also seems like a lost cause.
A significant part of the issue falls on the script. The first act has an amusing premise: a group of players is forced to act out incompetently told fairy tales dictated by a trio of authoritarian old storytellers. Aunt Erraticus (Catherine Brown) mixes up story elements, Uncle Oblivious (Gregg Stickeler) forgets them entirely, and Great Aunt Repetitus (Lynn DeYoung) talks in circles. It’s fine, though a bit over-extended: twisted fairy tales and The Play That Goes Wrong-style theatrical mishaps aren’t as novel as they were 30 years ago. At the start of the show, Fred (Allen Corcoran) appears in this world with no memory of who he is, before realizing he must topple the decrepit storytellers and free the players. This central idea of individuals overcoming authoritarian bureaucracy is a nice message but treated superficially.
Things really drag in the second act, much of which is taken up by Repetitus telling an original fairy tale that is largely a combination of genre tropes and not strongly connected to the play’s core themes. I understand Repetitus’s gimmick and namesake, but that doesn’t change the fact that the deliberately meandering story is meandering nonetheless. Then, a turn of events essentially resets Fred’s journey, causing much of the play’s opening sequence to repeat verbatim. The repetition drags the pace down even further.
Beyond these challenges in the script, the production itself isn’t completely off the hook. To have any hope of working, the show needs relentless energy and madcap zaniness, and director Vsevolod Yuri Krawczeniuk’s production delivers fitfully. The staging is fairly flat, with characters often standing in a line for long periods. There’s cleverness and fun in the live sound effects provided by Callie Sorce as “Sammie on Sound.” (In other productions, this character is “Kevin on Keyboards,” providing musical underscoring, which would have been a nice addition to the sound effects.
The cast has camaraderie and is clearly having fun, to varying levels of success. DeYoung brings the proper authority and sternness to Repetitus, while Samwise Aaron as Albert (playing a succession of hapless farmers, woodcutters, etc.) fits his role perfectly and is consistently funny. Brown’s Erraticus feels a bit timid and sometimes struggles to project, while Anna Booher as Nell is unfortunately stuck playing characters who primarily cry and pout in the first act, although she becomes considerably more likable in the second. As Fred, Corcoran is an amiable everyman, though the age difference between him and Nell makes their eventual romance a bit awkward.
There are amusing moments and a cast game for the silliness, but they aren’t enough to buoy this show.
Lincoln Stegman Theatre, 6020 Radford Ave., N Hollywood. Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 2 pm; thru Aug. 30. https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/elate-1094460696/this-is-where-we-came-in Run time: Two hours and 30 minutes, with intermission.
