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Eric Owens, Dan Quinton, Stuart Pierce
Maryann Curmi, Carin Heidelbach, Julian BuhlerTwo Great Reviews!
'Durang Durang' hilariously giddy
By LEO STUTZIN
MODESTO BEE ARTS EDITOR
(Published: Wednesday, October 04, 2000)SONORA -- "Durang Durang," the side-splitting torrent of nonsense and wisdom that opened at Stage 3 over the weekend, comes to Sonora with some unfortunate baggage: It's not well known, even though it has won raves from coast to coast, and it is built in part around parodies of great plays, suggesting that viewers need to know the originals to be tickled by Christopher Durang's send-ups of them.
Let's hope that baggage wont doom the crisp, lively production to the sort of minimal attendance it attracted Saturday. That would be a loss for both Stage 3 and for theatergoers who will never know what fun they've missed.
The show is composed of six brisk playlets, each spoofing aspects of American life or aspects of theater, frequently intertwined.
There's no way to remedy the problem of visibility. Off-Broadway hits simply don't generate the attention that accrues to smash musicals, no matter how well they're received by critics and audiences.
As for hindrance No. 2, let me try to dispel the misconception.
You don't need a working knowledge of Tennessee Williams "The Glass Menagerie" to rock with laughter at Durang's "For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls." Bring together a pushy and cloying mother, a painfully shy son who collects glass swizzle sticks, another son who can't stand either of them and a not-very-gentle female caller and you've got a close encounter with lunacy of the kookiest kind.
You don't need to know the bizarre, confused and violent world of Sam Shepard's "A Lie of the Mind" to be dizzied and doubled over by Durang's even more bizarre, confused and raucous takeoff, "A Stye of the Eye."
And you don't need to know a thing about Durang himself to revel in the giddiness of "Business Lunch at the Russian Tea Room," in which he skewers both himself and Hollywood. He fills the pot with a slothful playwright, a high-powered deal-maker and a crazy idea for a movie -- a priest and a rabbi who fall in love -- stirs briskly and demands only one thing from audiences: the knowledge of how to laugh.
As for the other skits that comprise "Durang Durang," one is a monologue by a pretentious and inane docent who introduces us to an evening of "theater Ö and everything else," one revolves around the nonrelationships of a deluded matron who is obsessed with preserving her own beauty, and one focuses on a rocky marriage that is complicated by the unexpected arrival of hubby's girlfriend from high school, a spacy and ceaselessly demanding guest from hell.
Stage 3's ensemble involves seven performers shifting among many roles and hitting the right notes every time. Six of the actors also direct, each bringing off one playlet with bright characterizations, pacing and style.
The actor-directors are Carin Heidelbach, Stuart Pierce, Eric Owens, Maryann Curmi, Julianne Buhler and Dan Quinton. Sherry Dumos is the lone nondirecting performer.
Ron Madonia adds to his record of knockout scenic designs with a flexible set.
The show's language includes a scattering of epithets, so be forewarned.
Stage 3's hilarious theatrical parody really hits its targets
By SHERMAN SPENCER
STOCKTON RECORD STAFF WRITERParody can be a lethal weapon in the hands of an expert literary marksman.
In "Durang/Durang," playwright Christopher Durang takes deadly aim at several egregious dramatic styles and other absurd situations.
Though he bags some sitting ducks, his unsportsmanlike conduct can be forgiven in the interests of just deserts and general hilarity.
This production by Sonora's Stage 3 Theatre dispels any doubts about the breadth and versatility of this company's talent. Not only does the cast of seven deliver virtuoso performances in these six short sketches, six of them direct one of the pieces.
In the opener, "Mrs. Sorkin," directed by Stuart Pierce, we have Carin Heidelbach in the title role as a somewhat addled, but very enthusiastic clubwoman delivering a lecture on drama.
During the course of her talk, along with items of Greek and Latin word derivations and constant meandering from the subject, we learn more accurate information about the unhappy life of the speaker.
"For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls" humorously parodies Tennessee Williams' more idiosyncratic dramatic styles. Directed by Maryann Curmi, this "glass menagerie" is inhabited by Julianne Buhler as the caustic mother of a retarded son (Dan Quinton) who collects glass swizzle sticks. His ineffectual brother (Stuart Pierce) brings home a prospective finance (Heidelbsch) for him, but she proves incredibly inappropriate.
Sam Shepherd's convoluted dialogues and dysfunctional family sagas get a similar going-over in "A Stye of the Eye." Heidelbach directs Pierce, Sherry Dumos, Quinton, Buhler, Eric Owens and Curmi in a tale overloaded with symbols and strange vernacular.
This one seemed somewhat over-extended, but, of course, overlong and repetitive plays are what is being parodied.
In "Nina in the Morning," directed by Buhler, we observe the inanities of the real "life" of the people depicted in slick magazine ads. Nina, marvelously played by Curmi, has eyes more expressive than many actors' complete faces and voices. Attended by family and servants (Owens, Pierce and Quinton), she spends her day regarding her artificially preserved face in a mirror.
The most hilarious piece is "Wanda's Visit," directed by Quinton. Jim (Pierce), existing in a state of boring matrimony with Marsha (Curmi), gets a surprise visit from Wanda (Buhler), a high school girlfriend. Buhler creates a comic masterpiece as this house guest from hell's outrageous remarks and actions exacerbate the couple's every domestic problem.
Durang's total disenchantment with Hollywood literary agents permeates "Business Lunch at the Russian Tea Room," directed by Owens and featuring Pierce, Buhler and Curmi.
Durang's range of subject matter and dramatic style sustained the comic excitement of this 21/2-hour collection of sketches for the rather small, but very enthusiastic audience.
The audience no doubt will grow as word of this delightful theatrical tour-de-force gets around.
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