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Disclaimer:
The reviewers' opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TheatreLouisville.org. |
Peer Reviews
Spot
of Cheese (or, the Unexpected Sally) Entire contents are copyright © 2008 Cory Vaughn. All rights reserved.
The proud theatrical traditions of mime, clownery, and vaudeville are alive and well in Louisville and currently living at the Rudyard Kipling. I have no doubt many will agree with me that the Rud (as it is affectionately known among locals) is hardly an ideal space in which to mount a full-scale theatrical production, but its intimacy works well for Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble, a small group of local performance artists who specialize in filtering old classics through fresh eyes with a touch of commedia dell'arte sensibility. For the current revival of their own one-act physical comedy Spot of Cheese (or, the Unexpected Sally), first seen at the Rud in 2006, the entire show consists of a multi-purpose shower curtain, a wobbly chair, a stack of books, some gag A/V equipment, a little audience participation, and two quirky actors with Bright Red Clown Noses (yes, capital letters and all). Never having seen a Le Petomane show before, I didn't know quite what to expect. Now, having seen my first, I don't know quite how to describe it. For those readers involved with the production, don't worry, that's a good thing. Company founders and husband-and-wife acting team Gregory Maupin (hereafter referred to as "Greg") and Abigail Bailey Maupin (hereafter referred to as "Abigail") star as unnamed, oddball characters who are allegedly part of a series of irreverent send-ups of works of classical literature, in this case, Cervantes' Don Quixote de la Mancha. This production, however, is less a send-up than a simple and well-executed riff that, for reasons that I will not divulge, owes little more than the title and the Spanish setting to Cervantes' novel, although the more I think about it, the more I begin to realize that the Maupins do actually sort of resemble Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in their respective statures and character traits. For the most part, Abigail is the engaging clown and Greg is the long-suffering straight man, although he does have a comic lecture on the various native cheeses of La Mancha which comes completely out of left field and, I think, is even funnier because he takes it so seriously! I found myself wondering whether he actually researched this or was just making it up. The long silence following this monologue is almost as well-acted as the monologue itself, and culminates in the best-one liner (or, in this case, one-worder) of the entire evening. This guy plays silence like most of us play the guitar or the piano! Abigail, meanwhile, brings the house down with her "terribly accurate" Flamenco, accompanied by Greg on the ukulele, in which she "distills the story to its essence in dance." This leads to a protracted, tap-danced flashback (with a false ending, no less) which takes the story on an unexpected detour through Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea and Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. The show itself has a twist ending as well, one that is as old as the hills and yet, somehow, I was engaged enough not to see it coming. The first part of the title (I know you were wondering) refers to a severely botched translation of the novel's title from the original Spanish, which, incidentally, neither of these characters speaks. You can tell the direction in which this is going. As for the parenthetical half of the title, well, I'll leave you to discover that for yourself, but your program provides the answer. Spot of Cheese won't exactly win the theatrical Pulitzer, but who cares? What we have here is innocuous, frothy, G-rated escapist fare. Mr. and Mrs. Maupin are delightful company to spend an hour with, and taken for what it is, Spot of Cheese makes for a thoroughly entertaining hour of comedy. Food and drinks are available at this venue.
Spot of Cheese (or, the Unexpected Sally) Starring (in approximate order of appearance): LePetomane.org Remaining Performances: October 24, 25, 27, at
7:30 pm
Posted Oct. 22, 2008
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