Monday, August 24, 1998
One Act Wonders
THEATRE: 'MET a Magic,' the new production from Hollywood's MET Theater, delivers a mixed bag of both entertaining and mundane short plays
By Lonnie Harris
Daily Bruin Staff
In five short one-act plays, collectively known as "MET a Magic," the new MET Theater acting troupe manages to deal with issues ranging from pedophilia to modern dating to cannibalism. And this includes an intermission.
The collection of one-acts, running every Thursday and Saturday at the MET Theater in Hollywood, is understandably inconsistent, as each production is written, directed and performed by different members of the troupe. This means that certain plays are highly entertaining while other portions of the production are likely to induce dissatisfaction, boredom or both. The underlying flaw of the entire production of "MET a Magic" is that these plays are placed in a strange order, with both dramas grouped at the beginning and the comedies at the end. Spreading these one-acts around might make for a more smooth and entertaining production overall.
The first one-act, "Mute" is unfortunately one of the plays which will induce dissatisfaction. The story concerns two girls who get into a fight in high school and are brought to the counseling office. Soon, the mother of one of the girls is brought in and revealed to be insane, which creates a whole new set of insights into the nature of the juvenile brawl. While "Mute" is well-acted and initially has an engaging story, the writing is silly and even nonsensical. Most likely, Carolyn Carpenter's script would have benefitted from a few more rewrites to further fine-tune some of the characters' more false moments.
The second drama, "Sons of the Father," centers around two brothers reuniting after 13 years, on the occasion of their father's death. While one son, played impeccably by Wilson Bell, remains loyal to his Dad, the other still blames his father for his problems and refuses to be at peace with his past. Unlike "Mute," the writing in "Sons of the Father" is tight, witty and very realistic, making this drama riveting.
After these two heavy dramatic pieces, "MET a Magic" proceeds to comedy with the best piece of the evening, "The Outside In." Here, an angry and disillusioned young man (played by the piece's writer Abraham Amedeo) has a fevered conversation with God about life, the inconsistencies in the Bible and the history of the universe. Amedeo's script manages to point out all of the flaws of organized religion while maintaining a light and funny tone, mainly by making his God character (Randall Rapstine) an amusing - and a little bit effeminate - caricature.
Another comedy, "The Rental," can't quite compare with its riotous predecessor, but still provides some light and breezy humor through its outrageous plotting. A woman named Sonya wakes up one morning to find that her best friend has rented her a boyfriend for a day. The story may not be believable, and some of Sonya's reactions only re-enforce this observation, but the piece is short and funny, making it a welcome addition to the production.
Unfortunately, "MET a magic" ends on a down note with "Cannibals Gone Bad," a ridiculous and lackluster addition by Alex Dremann. The story, as much as it can be described, takes place in a fantasy world where the queen eats her subjects one by one and the people hope that one day they will be given the honor of being digested by their matriarch.
"Cannibals Gone Bad" is obviously meant as a comedy, but its set-up is too juvenile and its writing is far too ridiculous to provide any real laughs, making the play long and tedious.
Overall, "MET a Magic" contains a fair share of worthy moments. However, the best parts of the show are often overshadowed by the bizarre pacing and organization, which put all the heavy drama in the beginning, all the comedy in the middle and leaves the audience with a decidedly non-funny comedy.Photos courtesy of Dennis J. Ken
(Left to right) Denise Devin, Allaire Paterson, Carolyn Lawrence and Susan M. Carr star in "Mute," one of a group of one-act plays now being performed at the MET Theater.
Max (kneeling), played by Abraham Amedeo, has a conversation with God, played by Randall Rapstine, in the play "The Outside In," part of the series "MET a Magic."