|
Mr. Spacky…The Man Who Was Continuously Followed by Wolves
By Emily Schwartz
Directed by Carolyn Klein
Produced by The Strange Tree Group
At Chopin Theatre
1543 W. Division Street
Chicago, IL
Call 773-814-6163, tickets $20 ($10 Thursday for Industry)
Thursdays thru Saturdays at 8 pm
Sundays at 3 pm
Running time is 80 minutes with no intermission
Through June 23, 2007
She’s back with another wacky treat: Playwright Emily Schwartz demonstrates her talent with Mr. Spacky.
Emily Schwartz has a penchant for writing wacky, macabre and hilarious plays that almost defy description. Her The Dastardly Ficus and other Comedic Tales of Woe and Misery and her Funeral Wedding (The Alvin Play) were engagingly provocative works that I enjoyed immensely. She has talent and a fresh voice that allows her to write zany plays filled with sick and dark humor. Her latest, Mr. Spacky…The Man Who Was Continuously Followed by Wolves is a “Macabre Murder-Muzical” that is a tuneful and delightfully inventive summer treat.
 |
Mr. Spacky is completely original with toe-tapping folk music nicely played by a seven member acoustical band. These tunes (composed by Emily Schwartz) are both show specific and clever folk/bluegrass songs. This is a comic murder mystery musical that thoroughly works to produce many belly laughs. It is clever, unpredictable and audience friendly. Its charm and unpretentiousness wins us quickly. The smart crafty acting that combines over-the-top performances with ditzy, straight arrow work exudes all the humor in Schwartz’s tight script.
We meet Miss Elizabeth Lyonn (Jennifer Marschand), a sweet yet ditzy hapless frilly-hatted bride to be who flees the city to escape a terrible war to marry a rural villager. She never meets her fiancé as she ends up at her soon-to-be sister-in-law Agatha Dumont’s (Carol Enoch) house. The cold-hearted Agatha, played marvelously stiff and straight by Carol Enoch is a macabre character deliciously demented. Her interaction with the wacky Mr. Spacky (Scott Cupper) produced many quality laughs. Cupper is so over-the-top that he delivers the zany (and totally loony) Mr. Spacky as one hilarious personality. He really believes that wolves are after him.
 |
It seems that Elizabeth has been lured to the village for her money as she’ll never marry because Mr. Spacky will murder her before the ceremony as he did the three previous brides-to-be. Spacky’s love for Agatha is his sole motivation. Elizabeth quickly bonds with the ever-so-weird unsettling “daughter” of Agatha, Edwina (Kara Klein in a hoot of a performance). Edwina and Elizabeth land their bedroom scenes with a nice comic twist on dancing. Klein and Marschand have fine stage chemistry that produces funny physical comedy.
Elizabeth’s humorously horrible journey features a camp of injured soldiers who sing, dance and play their way into retelling of Miss Lyonn’s story. Replete with banjos, mandolins, washboards and accordions, the musical contains a creative blend of folk styled songs that helped tell the story as well as underscore the tone and meanings of the piece. Composer Emily Schwartz can write terrific tunes as well as a workable comedy. Wes Clark, Weston Davis, Tom Mackey, Kate Nawrocki, Zach Sigelko, Mark Verne and Thomas Zietner produced outstanding acoustical rhythms and fine melodies in cutely humorous singing that propelled the nifty tunes. They make a fine band and chorus.
Mr. Spacky is 80 minutes of clever, well crafted dark humor that sings well and lands enough laughs to please even the coldest hearts. The devise of letting the audience pick the ending—either the dark, unhappy murderous ending or the zany, sweet and happy ending works to further audience involvement and add another cute twist. On opening night, we witnessed the unhappy murderous ending. I’m told there indeed is another happy ending. Audiences will vote on the ending at each performance.
Mr. Spacky is a gem of a show that is part musical, part murder mystery and all fun. Director Carolyn Klein has her amazing cast in full comic mode as her quickly paced show still has enough surprises to keep us guessing. The music and singing adds much to make this delightful show zing. Emily Schwartz and the folks at The Strange Tree Group are as a talented bunch of way out artists as you’ll find. They exemplify the energy and zest of young, hungry storefront theatre troupes. Keep creating your original art, we do need fresh voices. The summer season is off to a wacky start.
Highly Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: May 31, 2007
|
