Reviewed by G. Bruce Smith
Lupo Cinghiale Pictures at The Hudson Mainstage Theatre
Through Nov. 16
Quirky. Kooky. Funny.
These are the descriptors that come to mind when watching the first half of Tweet Tweet, a world premiere at The Hudson Mainstage Theatre. The second act, however, is a completely different story.
The play follows 32-year-old Ph.D. candidate Mark (Andy Dispensa, who is also the writer and director) who is living in Los Angeles and who, after having a brief encounter with a homeless man (The Bum, played by Jock McKissic), becomes obsessed with the idea of becoming a bird. As the action progresses, his obsession grows to the point where he dresses in a full avian costume, builds nests in the park, and takes out all the windows in his apartment to reduce the chances of a bird crashing into one of them and dying.
His fiancée Ellen (Ryan Connell) and close friends Aiden (Olivia Cleone) and Larry (Alex Jean) are surprisingly supportive and accepting of Mark’s transformation. But when they start questioning some of the aspects of Mark’s choice, he dives even deeper into his obsession. And he ends up cheating on his fiancée with the sexy Lola (Angelie Simone), who also identifies as a bird — specifically a crow. This adds another interesting element to Mark’s journey.
It’s a wonderful — and obviously satirical — set-up for exploring issues of identity. Parallels might be drawn to the difficult decisions facing transgender people. Or even to members of racial and religious minorities who have tried desperately to fit in with a dominant white society but eventually change course to embrace their heritage.
We want to know what happens to Mark and how his transformation affects his relationships, his career, his place in society.
But the payoff never comes. In fact, Act II feels as if it’s a completely different play – one that has lost its humor and quirkiness and one that might very well test an audience’s patience. Without giving away too much, we discover that all is not as it seems when it comes to Mark’s story. Let’s just say there’s a team of scientists involved in a military-funded experiment.
The remainder of Act II is taken up mostly by rambling – and very lengthy – monologues by The Bum, who has his own transformation from drug addict to a respectable working man named Trent who has kicked his habit. The monologues are nearly impossible to follow as Trent jumps from subjects ranging from small-town living to the tyranny of technology.
The cast is uniformly strong, but the flawed writing in the second act doesn’t give them a chance to shine.
At one point, after one of his diatribes, Ellen says to Trent, “I understand.” She may be the only one who does.
Lupo Cinghiale Pictures at The Hudson Mainstage Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles. 7:30 pm Wednesday-Saturday. https://onstage411.com/newsite/show/play_info.asp?show_id=7437. Running time, Two hours, including a 15-minute intermission.
