WONKY ONE ACTS AT THE ECHO THIS ENDS BADLY

After  the extraordinary experience of FOR WANT OF A HORSE  just opened at The Echo, we swipe  Left or is it Right? for THIS ENDS BADLY..  a series of short theatricals that call for the Twilight Zone theme in the background and fastened seatbelts for the bumpy ride.

Five scenarios

Full disclosure.. Seeing a kid who beat me at Hangman at the age of three, now a  strapping dad with enough energy to light up Pacoima was a huge surprise that made made me very happy. The last playlet of this series, John Pollono's ILLUMINATI puts a cap on the evening. Michael Redfield' as Roger was so freakin' bizarre and committed that it virtually shook the house. 

Let's go from the top..

We start with Marlane Meyer's  Rabbit Hole. She also directed.  It features  a very broad take on the lives of four odd characters. Suffice it to say that mental health issues and conspiracy to commit murder can be pretty funny.

The actors:  Zaya Kolia, Victoria Davidoff, Edward Hoke and Frank Demma present with unapologitic and direct energy. The writing is the key and as off the wall this brief scenario may be, it's a journey with potential to expand.

Harriet and Keith at the Whitney Biennial   by Benjamin Weissman  points us down a rabbit hole of its own with a brief primer on Contemporary Art. It features a Harold and Maude aspect that turns left with the bombng of the Whitney! Love among the tatters of Pollock and Rothko snowing on the couple.  Connor Murphy and Suzanne Fletcher play Keith and Harriet. The girl in the baklava is Isabel Marcus.  It's a bit self conscious and a little stiff.

Then?   I wondered why Matador written and directed by Sharon Yablon  was called Matador with Silas Weir Mitchell meandering and introspectve in a bathrobe sharing a monologue of inner thoughts expressed with a reference to where he may have been before he was born?.. just meandering until the closing dance moves.

This leads  us to a Time Warp with Him and Her (Wes Walker and Shawna Casey) driving in a loop through the  Muir Woods by Frank Demma who directed with Fionna Rogers.. There may have been mushrooms involved. Shades of 2001: A Space Odyssey?

This drives us to the most complex of the evening's pieces.. ILLUMINATI by John Pollono..

Jennifer Pollono plays an actress in a crazy play presented in a hole in the wall space that features over the top Roger (Michael Redfield) vamping with his co-star / leading lady while Billy (Keith Stevenson) the brother from Boston,  is the fish out of water attempting to understand the world of Important Artistic Theatre. Adrenalin  and sweat fly from the action. 

I had not heard of Frank's.. the company to blame for THIS ENDS BADLY . with the comment that it does not... end badly. As bizarre and sketchy as each of these pieces comes off, it's the kind of work that does what the other show currently up at The Echo .. FOR WANT OF A HORSE also does.. THIS ENDS BADLY  creates the uncomfortale business of what avant garde theatre is supposed to do. It stirs something lurking in our own dark shadows to have an opinion and exit the theatre amused and a little disturbed.

The Plays:

Harriette & Keith at the Whitney Biennial by Benjamin Weissman

 Illuminati by John Pollono

Matador by Sharon Yablon

Muir Woods by Frank Demma

Rabbit Hole by Marlane Meyer

 Some of the Players: 

Shawna Casey, Frank Demma, Edward Hoke, Silas Weir Mitchell, Conor Murphy, Frank Pellegrino, Jennifer Pollono, Michael Redfield, Wes Walker, Jacqueline Wright  

In a co-production with Frank's, billed as an underground collective of some stature!

THIS ENDS BADLY

Produced by The Echo Theatre Company and Frank's

 Echo Theater Company
Atwater Village Theatre
3269 Casitas Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90039
 

Plays: April 22-May 13:
Wednesdays Only at 8 p.m.

PARKING:
FREE in the Atwater Crossing (AXT) lot one block south of the theater.

TICKET PRICES:
$15
(A $1.50 fee will be added to each ticket purchased with a credit card.)
EchoTheaterCompany.com
(747) 350-8066