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Peer Reviews Actors Theatre of Louisville's Match Games Directed by Michael Bigelow Dixon Reviewed by Sherry Deatrick Entire contents are copyright © 2009 Sherry Deatrick. All rights reserved.
Have you ever wanted to attend a taping of Saturday Night Live? Save your plane fare and go to Actors Theatre's Match Games, a collection of ten 10-minute plays all about love, instead. Eighty percent of the "plays" are little more than gimmicky skits. Still, an evening of lightweight fare might be just the ticket to take your mind off of cares and woes.
Stylish, modern set designs with their carefully coordinated colors, as well as up-to-date costumes, engage the eye. Unobtrusive music sweeps you along through the show. Unfortunately, the plays are ultimately little more than a collection of puff pieces. But the able cast members do the best they can with this mostly weak material. In between each "play," members of the apprentice company energetically change the sets and clown around, emphasizing to me the qualitative difference between this show and the one staged by the apprentices during their 24-Hour, Ten-Minute Play Festival at the Rud last Monday. Guess which one I liked better (and no, it's not because one of my plays was in the festival). A giant game board with dice and chess pieces adorns the stage as the audience files in. We get the idea that love is just a game, so let's play. The game pieces are whisked away, and here's what ensues: Controlling Interest by Wayne S. Rawley. Adult actors play little kids involved in a battle of the sexes. Cloying. Sure Thing by David Ives. A man tries to pick up a woman in a coffee shop. Each time he hits a snag, a bell rings and he gets a "do over." Cute. Surprise by Mark Harvey Levine. A woman dumps the psychic she's been dating because she gets tired of him finishing her sentences. Skittish. So Tell Me About This Guy by D.W. Gregory. Two women speak in incomplete sentences about a new guy one of them is dating. Corny. The Processional by Robert D Kemnitz and Jennifer McMaster. A hipster couple practices for their wedding. The minister is aghast at their choice of outlandish Old Testament biblical passages. Funny. Mr. and Mrs. by Julie Marie Myatt. I've now had the misfortune of seeing this bit of fluff twice (the first was at the 2007 Humana festival). A newlywed couple divulge their true feelings for each other as they enjoy their first dance as Mr. and Mrs. Unnamed Somebodies. At least one-tenth of the play is taken up by a woman singing a love ballad. Hint: the play on words is the gimmick. 2B (Or Not 2B) by Jacquelyn Reingold. A woman becomes a queen after her boyfriend dumps her. Nice escapist fare with excellent acting, although the play is a bit silly. The Blue Room by Courtney Baron. The only melancholy play in this bunch sticks out like a sore thumb. A sailor reminisces about his brief marriage. Blue lights mimic ocean waves and create a surreal mood, as the sailor's wife, wearing a blue nightgown, languidly climbs in and out of a bathtub. Dreamlike. Eros is Sore Spelled Backwards by Martin Russell. An older couple deal with the loss of sexual abandon that plagues most marriages. This, along with The Blue Room, is most like a real play, with dramatic tension and interesting characters. The word play is delightful. Après Opéra by Michael Bigelow Dixon and Val Smith. A man thinks he's meeting an old flame in an opera-themed restaurant, but she brings along her narcoleptic fiancé. This was fun to watch even though it's not much more filling than an opera crème candy. On second thought, maybe you should spend the money on plane fare after all. While you're at it, treat yourself to the empty calories from Doughnut Plant on the Lower East Side.
Posted Jan. 11, 2009
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