SEARCH CurtainUp
REVIEWS
FEATURES
NEWS (Etcetera)
ADDRESS BOOKS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
Los Angeles
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
On TKTS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
NYC Weather
LA
Review
David's Mother
by Stanley H. Nemeth
The current offering at the Rude Guerrilla Company, Bob Randall's David's Mother, is unfortunately yet another merely routine dealing-with-disability drama. It is so lacking in subtext that, were its brief bedroom scene excised, it could serve admirably as a heartwarming TV Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation or an Afterschool Playhouse Special.
A spinoff of the far more poignant and dramatically successful The Miracle Worker, which appears to have spawned a whole family of such derivatives, David's Mother places at its center not the overprotected disabled child (here a boy), but the mother whose behavior is destructive not only of this child but of her other family members and even herself. Several teacher-type characters who see the obvious and would rescue the child from undue protectiveness are relegated to the periphery of the drama. Like the audience, they have to wait two full acts for the mother to abandon facetious wisecracking and experience a change of heart as unconvincing as it is convenient and predictable.
The production itself is of mixed quality. As the autistic, teenaged David, the marvelous Eric Eisenbrey steals the show, though his character - like that of Helen Keller - doesn't speak a single word. Through facial expression and body language, he is able to convey the anguish of a trapped, frustrated intelligence. The other actors do not rise to the level of his performance.
The set design, by Jeff Strack, is worth being singled out, too. With the limited resources at his disposal, his set nonetheless tellingly conveys through its tackiness and clutter the genteel poverty that has become the world of the guilty, narrowly focused Sally, David's mother.
The weakest elements of the production are those of timing and pacing. Most of the actors deliver their lines as oddly self-contained wholes and are not responded to by their listening fellows with either a quickness or a naturalness that would create credibility. Whether this flaw is traceable to the director, some of the actors, or even the script itself is an open question.
|
DAVID'S MOTHER
Written by Bob Randall Directed by Jody J. Reeves Cast: Jennifer L. Corum, Eric Eisenbrey, Annette Lewis, Cathy Petz, Kelly Quigley, Susan Shearer, Cory Harley Vincent, Stephen Wagner Scenic Design:Jeff Strack Sound Design: David Gallo Costume Design:Peter Balgoyen Lighting Design: Renee Gallo Running Time 2 hours with a ten-minute intermission At The Rude Guerrilla Theater Company, 200 N. Broadway, Santa Ana, Ca 92701 (714) 547-4688/ RudeGrrlla@aol.com From January 11, 2002 through February 3, 2002 Reviewed by Stanley H. Nemeth based on January 11th performance. |
6, 500 Comparative Phrases including 800 Shakespearean Metaphors by CurtainUp' s editor.
Click image to buy.
Go here for details and larger image.
