In the Garage Theatre’s production of “An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein” director Jamie Sweet parlays the playwright’s shtick of the absurdity of things taken for granted into ten sketches, some of which are incisive, some of which are just plain goofy; all which bristle with the immediate set up and execution of a comic strip. Though the agile, some quite wonderful cast goes gangbusters, showing to great effect their comic if not slapstick chops with kinetic energy and mirthful wit, they still can’t do much to animate a script that feels more like looking at the centerfold and reading the jokes page of a 1964 Playboy: funny, scandalous even, in its time but now more of a period piece.
Some of the vignettes have the funny-for-the-moment one dimensional riff of Laugh-In skits. “Bus Stop,” which crackles with the same breathless quality of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Modern Major General,” Erwin (Tito Ortiz) hits on Celia (Liliana Frandsen) with the sign that says “bus stop” but which he wields as “bust top.” In “Best Daddy” Daddy (Robert J. Young) surprises daughter Lisa (Frandsen) with what she thinks is a pony, a live pony, and things go progressively downhill, demented, and delirious from there. “Smile” hilariously shows a trio of henchmen who want to snuff – as do we all - the guy who not only designed the smiley face badge but also every imaginable 70s feel-good cliché ever written. In “Buy One, Get One Free,” perhaps a knock-off on the old Doublemint gum commercials, two rhyming hookers, Sherrilee (Frandsen) and Merrillee (Sebelius), offering a passerby a two-for-one deal. In the second best skit of the night, “Thinking Up a New Name for the Act” begins as a simple dinner and ends as an electric chair execution using nothing but different intonations of the words “meat” and “potatoes.” In “Going Once” an Auctioneer (MS Cliff E. Threadgold III) solicits bids for Annie (Jackie Riddle). The piece may appear offensive but Riddle’s outrageous pleasure in having her attributes (not just her teeth) praised and shown off to best advantage is the highlight of the evening.
Some of the vignettes are more than one-off gags and address issues. In “The Lifeboat is Sinking” Jen (Riddle) forces husband Sherwin (Ortiz) to decide whom he would throw overboard – his mother, their infant daughter, his wife, or himself – in the event of a maritime calamity, thus proving the timeliness of mother-in-law jokes. In the Woody Allenesque “One Tennis Shoe” Harvey (Aaron Van Geem) tries, delicately at first, then like a jackhammer, to suggest that his wife Sylvia (Amy Louise Sebelius) just might be on the verge of becoming a bag lady. In “Wash and Dry” laundromat owner George (Van Geem), snidely informs Marianne (Frandsen), an increasingly exasperated patron, that his services include “Watch and Dry,” not “Wash and Dry,” which gives him an occasion to counterattack her venomous threats with a recital of her deep, dark secrets. Talk about airing dirty laundry. In “Blind Willie and the Talking Dog” the Talking dog (Sebelius) suggests to Blind Willie (Threadgold) that there are more entrepreneurial solutions to the raising of cash than begging.
Under Sweet’s skillful direction, the cast adroitly managed, with body language, deadpan delivery, and appropriate accents to change personas at the drop of a hat. Though Silverstein’s offbeat humor solicited laughs throughout the evening the production as a whole never quite got off the ground. Sweet has managed to semi-excavate humor from this generally overwrought piece but the end result is more of an homage to the man than the plugging into something that still resonates. It’s not that less histrionics and hysterical pacing might lead to a clearer realization of Silverstein’s vision; it’s just that there isn’t one left.
Performances are 8 PM, Thu. - Sat. The show runs until March 27. Tickets are $15-$18. The Theatre is located at 251 E. 7th St. For more info 433-8337 or visit www.thegaragetheatre.org.
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