Back in the mid-1980s, playwright/actor Sam Shepard was the Next Big Thing in American theater. At the time, his fame was so widespread that David Letterman could get a huge laugh by joking about Shepard’s love life (“Shepard’s new play is an autobiographical work called ‘Boy, Oh, Boy, I Can’t Believe I’m Sleeping With Jessica Lange.’”). But that was over 20 years ago and Shepard’s scripts are rarely revived nowadays. Spooky Action Theater’s current production of his 1983 play “Fool for Love” is a prime example of why they aren’t.
» Synopsis
Set in a dilapidated motel near the Mojave Desert, “Fool for Love” depicts the love/hate relationship between rodeo cowboy Eddie (Stewart Walker) and his half-sister May (Halsey Varady), who alternate between exchanging insults and groping each other. Watching from the sidelines are the ghost of their father (Manolo Santalla) and May’s nerdy suitor, Martin (James Gagne).
» The cast
Director Kasi Campbell doesn’t exercise much control over her actors; with the exception of Santalla’s understated turn, all of the performances are way over the top to the point of caricature. (Walker’s constant shouting his lines at the top of his lungs gets especially tired real quick.)
» The highlights
Santalla’s acting, Richard Montgomery’s set, Ayun Fedorcha’s lighting andMatt Rowe’s sound designs are this production’s only first-rate elements. (The fact that the play clocks in at slightly over an hour also counts as a plus.)
» The lowlights
Eddie and May both have long convoluted monologues that bring the proceedings, which aren’t all that interesting to begin with, to a screeching dead halt.
» The bottom line
Spooky Action’s “Fool for Love” is the type of play where the leading characters are so shrill and unsympathetic that it is impossible to give a damn about what happens to them. Shepard’s plays might have been cutting edge a quarter of a century ago, but by today’s standards, they seem rather tame and, in Eddie’s words, “absolutely pointless.”
‘Fool for Love’
Spooky Action Theater’s production runs through March 9
» Venue: The Black Box Theatre at Montgomery College, Takoma Park
» Performances: 8 p.m. Thrsday to Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday
» Tickets: $5 to $10
» More info: 800-494-TIXS, www.spookyaction.org
