If you were to
hear a gunshot, you wouldn’t seek out the gunman, would you? And you certainly
wouldn’t insult the man brandishing the gun---and you would never, never insult
his mother! A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE (at Charlestown Working Theater through Oct.
27th) is chock full of oddballs who constantly act against their own
self interest----which, of course, is very funny.
Theatre On
Fire’s production isn’t nearly as gruesome as it sounds. Celebrated Irish
playwright, Martin McDonagh has a solid reputation for making the macabre
hilarious. Think of The Lieutenant of Innishmore or his film, In
Bruges. What’s different about this play is that there isn’t an Irishman in
it.
Director Darren
Evans has a way with the sardonic. Jeff Gill gives a wry, deadpan performance
as the one-handed psycho in town to search for what was stolen from him thirty
years back. Strangely enough, he’s the only character with his wits about him. He’s
surrounded by two wacky weed dealers (Tory Bullock and Becca A. Lewis) and a
nosey desk clerk (Greg Maraio) who won’t leave the psycho alone.
Maraio is
deliciously spacey in flowing, hippie locks, waxing about a great love for an
animal he once knew (which endeared him to me). Bullock and Lewis’ characters
get sidetracked so often, you wonder how successful they really are at peddling
dope. They just can’t concentrate on the crisis at hand. (I’m sorry for that.)
It’s a wild ride
which Evans drives full throttle.
