History of America (Abridged)

Critiqued by Holly Bartges

“It was a dark and stormy night”, literally at The Theatre Company of Lafayette’s opening night performance in the Mary Miller Theatre. Comedy is serious business, even when it’s attacked with a fast paced silly ridiculous array of silly ridiculous slapstick. Timing is essential, phrasing must be cut to a science, and movement demands high powered choreography. Unfortunately none of these qualities exist in The Theatre Company of Lafayette’s production of The Complete History of America (Abridged).

The Theatre Company of Lafayette’s production of History of America (Abridged).

Written by the Reversed Shakespeare Company’s genius writers Adam Long, Reed Martin, and Austin Tichenor also unveiled The Cmplt Wrks of Wm Shkspr (Abridged) and The Complete History of The Bible (Abridged). Grappling with serious subjects, reducing them to innocuous fast-paced hilarity, producing high-toned laughability has earned these three the right to priceless time with the Comedic Muse. The coveted Muse, however, this time, chose Golden’s Miners Alley Playhouse with Noel Coward’s Hay Fever. Coward and the Muse share a long history together. It’s either that or The TTCL responded too quickly to a production team that thought comedy was yelling, screaming, bouncing uncontrollably to keep the pace at break neck speed. Speed they have, but even a good racehorse knows he doesn’t pour everything he has right out of the gate. If he does, his endurance will cave in at the pole where speed counts. This is exactly what happens to the abridged Complete History of America. It ran out of steam in the middle of Act II. Due to the speed, some very funny lines were lost because timing went awry and punch left out.

Directed by Tim Housand, featuring Maurine Hines, Chelsea Rossetto, and Ashley VanScoyoc, the bumbling comedy could easily be written off for inexperience. Comedy that says, “Look at me. I have funny lines. I wear silly costumes. Aren’t I funny?” doesn’t get the wanted response. The answer is always a resounding NO.

The comedy celebrating 506 years in an hour and half; the comedy that makes fun of with tongue in cheek; the comedy that unleashes laughability fell on its face Opening Night at the Mary Miller Theatre. I love the Mary Miller Theatre. I love its history and charm. I love the people who run the theatre. They are warm, gracious, creative fun-loving souls, but this time they got bamboozled.

There appeared to be no structure. When an actor points his/her feet in one direction and immediately turns in the opposite direction, you know something is wrong. When lines are stumbled over, you know the actor is thinking, “What’s the next word?” rather than comedic timing.

The most disappointing and uncomfortable aspect of the production is the costumes. What happened? Designed by Sarah Spencer, Madge Montgomery, and Blake Curton, the costumes that have always been spectacular in every show I’ve seen the theatre company produce looked like the cast didn’t get the important email. Sorry folks, but there is no excuse for wrinkled anything.

For basic outfits, Rossetto wore a brightly colored tee shirt and black pants. No problem. Hines and VanScoyoc wore shorts. OK, no problem there either, except the shorts looked dirty and hadn’t seen an iron in eons. VanScoyoc wore a tee shirt under a brightly colored shirt, but it hung lopsided below the shirt screaming sloppy.

The two aprons the women wore representing Betsy Ross and her sister Diana Ross (ha ha) and the black robe Rossetto wore as an early American minister looked like they had been wadded up, stored in a box and then grabbed at the last minute.

The costumes that could have been extraordinary clever, symbolic, and stunning were reduced to embarrassment. The Reduced Shakespeare Company reduces material, not the costumes. My smile lines didn’t get exercised once. The wigs, especially Benjamin Franklin’s came across as a gagging horrified eyesore.

We were warned those sitting in the first couple of center rows would get drenched. We moved. The rainy weather provided enough water for the night, thank you very much. However, most of the water thrown into the audience with the aid of water guns, probably dried before it hit anyone. Oh yes, a few drops made their mark, but definitely not to the extent the production calls for.

Roger Hudgins’ lighting design had the hiccups. Lights blinked during some sketches going nowhere, doing nothing, and emphasizing no one.

S. M. Housand’s set design showed the most concentration with a carefully constructed banner wrapped around the stage above the actors’ heads marking specific dates between 1492 and 2008. Panels featuring black outlines of the Liberty Bell, Statue of Liberty, Homer Simpson, (Homer Simpson?) and McDonald’s hamburger and fries (McDonald’s?) showed painstaking artwork. This is the complete history of America (Abridged) and they chose Homer Simpson and McDonald’s? Funny? No. What it showed was a complete lack of current American History knowledge. Yes, maybe if they’d had 16 panels, but four? Both are but a burp in the 506 years, and hardly warrant a comment. Well, maybe a comment, but half the art work?

I honor The Theatre Company of Lafayette’s wondrous ability to give directors the opportunity to try on for size shows they’ve been aching to direct. Ian Gerber’s direction of Steve Martin’s Picasso At The Lapine Agile a few years ago, and Ralph Pape’s Good Night Gracie, and Bernie Cardell’s direction of Samuel Taylor’s Sabrina Fair knocked me out, but discretion must be employed with any decision-making. The Mary Miller Theatre deserves the best, but it certainly didn’t get it this time around.

It is quite clear the three actors want very much to have fun. It is quite clear dramatic skills are in tact, and its quite clear they understand speed, but their forcing the pasted smiles and running lines don’t spell comedic understanding of timing and punch. The Complete History of America calls for several impersonations. In this case, the impersonations don’t even have to be accurate. They can come out of left field as long as they point in the right direction. The cast has talent, but impersonations, left field or head-on, does not happen to be one of them.

The sketch on expanding the word American held promise for being a highlight, but the lines raced too fast, bleeding together Most of its intent flew by unappreciated. Act II featured a Spade Diamond detective parody. There are parts pointing toward clever such as the Dr. Seuss insert, but it doesn’t go far enough. The impersonations of Lucy Ricardo, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan leave much to be desired. By now the comedy engine ran out of steam. The very end where the three run the calendar backwards hinted at what the performance could have been. On the last lines the smiles weren’t so pasted, the importance of timing caught up with them, but it was too little, too late.

The Complete History of America (Abridged) really is a very funny show when its comedy is understood, when costumes and props are clever, stylish, creative, and stunning. They certainly can be indicative without falling into an elaborate field, but the top of the “To Do” list must read clean and ironed.

Lafayette’s opening night performance catapulted into heartbreak. The Theatre Company of Lafayette, The Mary Miller Theatre, the cast, and The Reduced Shakespeare Company all deserve better.

The Complete History of America (Abridged)
By Adam Long, Reed Martin & Austin Tichenor;
Directed by Tim Housand