{"id":17788,"date":"2015-04-24T20:11:45","date_gmt":"2015-04-25T03:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=17788"},"modified":"2015-04-24T20:11:46","modified_gmt":"2015-04-25T03:11:46","slug":"acting-works-in-marin-but-play-and-humor-dont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/acting-works-in-marin-but-play-and-humor-dont\/","title":{"rendered":"Acting works in Marin, but play and humor don\u2019t"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Woody’s [rating: 1]<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

<\/span><\/a><\/span> Starring in \u201cThe Way West\u201d are (from left) Anne Darragh (as mom), Kathryn Zdan (Manda) and Rosie Hallett (Meesh). Photo by Ed Smith.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Mom\u2019s body and world are in a race to see which will break down first.<\/p>\n

Even her garage is collapsing.<\/p>\n

But armed with Paul Bunyanesque tall tales of the American frontier, a ukulele and an endless supply of cockeyed optimism, she\u2019s hell-bent on retaining her pioneer spirit.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

Nor does the play in which she\u2019s the main character \u2014 the Marin Theatre Company\u2019s \u201cThe Way West,\u201d which is meant to be a whimsical but serious look at how a Central Valley family of three copes with the Great Recession.<\/p>\n

A lot within the production does work, I concede.<\/p>\n

The three main actors \u2014 Anne Darragh as mom, Kathryn Zdan as her older daughter, Manda, and Rosie Hallett as the younger, Meesh \u2014 are first-rate.<\/p>\n

Costuming, set and sound all provide ideal trappings, and director Hayley Finn succeeds in keeping the play hurrying toward its abrupt end.<\/p>\n

But original songs by Sam Misner and Meghan Pearl Smith don\u2019t add much beyond a copycat Woody Guthrie folky flavor of the Old West \u2014 even though the three principals passably strum and sing.<\/p>\n

A terminally shallow script by award-winning playwright Mona Mansour is the main stumbling block.<\/p>\n

It attempts to tackle serious topics of financial ruin and homelessness and familial relationships but glosses over them with exaggerated, clich\u00e9d situations and forced humor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Way West\u201d is the third play on which the MTC has bestowed its Sky Cooper New American Play Prize. First came Bill Cain\u2019s \u201c9 Circles,\u201d which I called \u201cmulti-faceted\u201d and \u201cdazzling.\u201d Next was \u201cThe Whale,\u201d which I found \u201ctouching.\u201d<\/p>\n

I suppose that, as the platitude goes, two out of three ain\u2019t bad.<\/p>\n

In \u201cThe Way West,\u201d a 62-year-old mother has filed for bankruptcy and isn\u2019t doing well physically. Yet she still stares through rose-colored glasses and embellishes already hard to swallow western mythology.<\/p>\n

And hopes her daughters will follow her lead.<\/p>\n

The kids, however, also are screwed up \u2014 and in deep emotional and fiscal trouble.<\/p>\n

Mandy has overextended her credit cards and endangered her job back East by overlooking an obscene typo. Meesh has run into a legal hassle peddling stuff online.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always try,\u201d Mansour has been quoted as saying, \u201cto be equal opportunity about how messed up the characters are.\u201d<\/p>\n

She does accomplish that in \u201cThe Way West.\u201d<\/p>\n

But messes up the play in the process.<\/p>\n

To be fair, the opening night audience laughed often, and a good deal more than I did.<\/p>\n

I found most of the humor juvenile \u2014 including dialogue that demanded intentional overacting, and including satirical, melodramatic signs that resembled silent movie title cards.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all in this together \u2014 and it\u2019s not good,\u201d one proclaimed.<\/p>\n

To me, the line might also apply to performers and audience.<\/p>\n

Toward the climax of the play, which at times crosses the fine line between clever and insipid, one character says, \u201cTalking creates hysteria.\u201d<\/p>\n

The playwright creates stylized onstage hysteria, however, by having her inventions talk incomprehensively over each other \u2014 and panic because of a living room fire.<\/p>\n

Having just published a book, I fully recognize what tremendous effort and perseverance goes into completing any creative effort, so I\u2019m hesitant to pan any artist \u2014 especially<\/em> a writer.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, though, benevolence must give way to conscientiousness.<\/p>\n

This is one of those times.<\/p>\n

“The Way West\u201d plays at the Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller Ave., Mill Valley, through May 10. Night performances, 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays; 7 p.m. Sundays; 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays through Saturdays. Matinees, 1 p.m. Thursdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets: $10 to $53. Information: (415) 388-5208 or marintheatre.org.<\/em><\/p>\n

Contact Woody Weingarten at voodee@sbcglobal.net<\/a> or http:\/\/vitalitypress.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Woody’s [rating: 1] Mom\u2019s body and world are in a race to see which will break down first. Even her garage is collapsing. But armed with Paul Bunyanesque tall tales…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17788","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-woody-weingarten"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"