BOA 12, Program One at Boxcar
Sarah Moser and Megan Trout in a Three Little Dumplings adventure,
Photo by Jessica Holt
The twelfth annual Bay One-Acts Festival, just opened at the Boxcar Theater, is an intriguing collection of five plays written by Bay Area artists and performed by two dozen actors. The longest of the one-act plays lasts less than one hour. The production uses minimal props and tightly timed scene changes for a seamlessly paced show. In Program 1 of two, the themes of the plays involve dysfunctional family life, a dance interpretation of a play by Anton Chekhov and murderous revenge that turns on itself. The partnership of ten local theatre companies and more than seventy theatre artists brings an anthology of selected new plays each year. With talented directors, BOA always features well-focused actors on uncomplicated sets.
Program 1
Cello by Anthony Clarvoe opens the show. A restless couple in the wee hours of the morning argues about sleep. Maria Giere Marquis in her nightgown and robe tells Cooper Carlson in his pajamas about a dream she had involving bumble bees. Their conversation is fortified by an onstage live cello accompaniment that serves as chorus and punctuation. At the mention of bees, musician El Beh elicits a hive-like humming from the cello. She produces some innovative sounds by tapping and scraping the strings of her instrument. After the couple reconciles about her dream, he gives her a piggy-back ride off. The cello plays a sad coda.
The 11th Hour Ensemble production of The Seagull Project is a freely stylized, movement oriented interpretation of Chekhov’s play about a symbolic bird. While a wild-haired man sits writing at a table on the deck, an ensemble of six sways and adds some vocalization on a platform behind him. They could be his muses, but he believes he is writing clichés. He has a fit and repeatedly complains about Nina, “She doesn’t love me and I can’t write any more.” Backed by a sea sound audioscape, he claims to be “drifting through a chaos of dreams,” but in the end Nina comes back to serenade him with a ukulele. The seabird makes a cleverly offhand entrance.
Three Little Dumplings Go Bananas is a sequel to a previous BOA show by Megan Cohen that introduced the Dumplings. The distinctly descriptive costumes for the whole production are generally simple and understated, except for the Dumpling trio. They look cutely delicious in pink and black. They are identified by numbers on their fuzzy pink hats. Their activities include slapstick and break dancing to the song “Bananas” and one of the Dumplings complains about her “asshole family.” As the Dumplings move through their separate worlds, the actresses clearly project well-defined characteristics. Number 3 (Megan Trout) is needy, wants love and is out of it, and so gets locked in the bathroom. Number #2 (Molly Holcomb) acts depressed and nervous but is certain that she is smarter than #1 (the enthusiastic and ingenuous Sarah Moser), who bullies the others and declares herself to be the “alpha Dumpling.” She murders their Mommy (the stern voice of Siobhan Doherty) and keeps the ghost in a suitcase, feeding it peanut butter sandwiches. Then she discovers an unexpected way to control the nagging Mommy. While the trio and the disembodied voice cavort in a forest glen, their feckless father is sitting upstage on a bench. He just wants to make peanut butter sandwiches and hold on to the television remote control. “TV is the perfect place to hide from my problems.” Number #2 wants the remote. He tries vainly to ignore his little Dumplings.
Brainkill by Sruart Eigene Bousel explores the thematic differences between breaking eggs to make an omelet and killing people. Alex the woman (Theresa Miller) has a plan to get rich. She calls it “genocide” and she hands Bobby (Dave Levine) a gun. Her plans take an ironic twist after she insists he kill a woman he was talking to in a club.
The couple In Bed can’t keep their hands off each other from the moment they enter entwined in passionate embraces. The next morning finds her in bed with belongings and empty Chinese takeout boxes strewn across the floor and some unfortunate misunderstandings.
BOA 12 Program 1 runs in repertory a with the five plays of Program 2 through May 12 at the Boxcar Theater, 505 Natoma Street, San Francisco. Tickets ($25 to $45) are available online at www.BayOneActs.org or at the door.
The couple In Bed can’t keep their hands off each other from the moment they enter entwined in passionate embraces. The next morning finds her in bed with belongings and empty Chinese takeout boxes strewn across the floor and some unfortunate misunderstandings.
BOA 12 Program 1 runs in repertory a with the five plays of Program 2 through May 12 at the Boxcar Theater, 505 Natoma Street, San Francisco. Tickets ($25 to $45) are available online at www.BayOneActs.org or at the door.