VALLEY WEEKEND : THEATER : NOTES : Evening of One-Act Plays Moves From Dark to Farce : Two pieces that make up “dis-function†at NoHo Studios aren’t meant as showcases, just solid entertainment.
The one-act play was the original theatrical teething ring for playwrights like Eugene O’Neill and Thornton Wilder. It’s still a good place to start.
In what is known sometimes affectionately as Actor’s Equity’s 99-Seat Plan, what separates the showcasing kids with their 15-minute scenes from the theatrical adults is their intent. Adam Gordon’s intent with the evening of one-acts he’s opening Friday night at North Hollywood’s NoHo Studios, under the umbrella title “dis-function,†is to provide the audience with a “rounded evening of solid entertainment.â€
The two plays--â€Nostalgia Brand Chewing Gum†and “Christmas Cardâ€--could possibly be done separately. Each is just a little over an hour long, but is tied to the other by similar topics. But Gordon says, “They put totally different perspectives on them. They’re similar enough to do that, and dissimilar enough too. One is a serious dark comedy about dysfunctional relationships, and the other takes it on to very farcical farce.â€
Neither one is a showcase. Gordon and his associates have been showcasing themselves elsewhere, with Mystax, their improv group. Mystax was formed three years ago by Cal State Northridge grads, and has been appearing every Sunday night for the past two years at Studio City’s Emerson Coffeehouse on Ventura Boulevard.
“Nostalgia Brand Chewing Gum,†the dark comedy, is written and directed by Gordon’s brother Eric, a recent UC Santa Cruz graduate, who is now in the music business. Adam Gordon, a founding member of Mystax, says he would have produced Eric’s play in any event. But when Joe Dungan’s “Christmas Card†entered the picture, directed by J. Martin Byrne, another founding member and director of Mystax, Gordon felt the evening was complete.
“Both plays say what they need to say in one act,†Gordon says.
Incidentally, Webster’s Unabridged defines “mystax†as an insect’s mustache. A memorable name.
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A second memorable name defines another couple of producers with a production opening Friday night.
Harris Cemetery Productions is presenting John Olive’s “Killers†at Studio City’s Two Roads Theatre. Olive is a Minnesota playwright best remembered locally for numerous productions of his “The Voice of the Prairie.†Producers Joe Fiske and Steve Sisk met in Houston, where they produced at the Houston House Theatre. The company name comes from a Huntsville, Tex., cemetery where all the interred are named Harris.
Fisk, who is directing the production, says the company name makes a stronger impression than “Actors Company of So-and-So.â€
In “Killers,†Sisk appears as a hack crime-novel writer who is staying in a boarding house while he finds an ending for his book. The plot, as Fisk conceives it in his staging, envisions the landlady and other characters as being part of the book the writer is struggling with.
“The characters,†Fisk says, “are neurotic and crazy. The play has a kind of perverseness. It’s about desperation and frustration. They all want a way out of their miserable lives. All the writer’s looking for is an ending to his book.â€
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Two Roads finished its “64 Solos†series of one-person performance pieces last weekend. But artistic director Edmund Gaynes says there were so many performers wanting the exposure that he will continue the series beginning in the middle of October, probably for Sunday matinees. And several of the pieces will probably be given full productions at a later date. Gaynes is winnowing out the cream of the crop to present to Mark W. Travis, one-man show director best known for Paul Linke’s “Time Flies When You’re Alive†and the original stage production of “A Bronx Tale.†Travis is in pre-production for a KCET series of performance pieces tentatively titled “Stories Told.â€
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DETAILS
* “dis-functionâ€: NoHo Studios, 5215 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends Oct. 14. $10. (818) 757-0888.
* “Killersâ€: Two Roads Theatre, 4348 Tujunga Ave., Studio City. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Sept. 30. $8. (213) 461-2423.
* “64 Solos And Then Someâ€: Contact Ed Gaynes: (818) 996-0505.
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