goestoshow

This play touched on some interesting issues through contrasting two approaches to parenting that are pretty much on the opposite end of the spectrum, and thus both draw the public’s eyes for being unusual. On one end, you have Dale Beaner, a child star who’s father seems only interested in exploiting his son for his own gain and is negligent to the extreme (leading to the play’s opening farce, in which Dale is attacked by seeing eye dogs because of a sausage link somehow left in his pants). On the other end, you have “The Turtle Boy,” who’s father is so concerned about his well-being that he completely smothers him, including by having a turtle shell surgically grafted to him shortly after birth.

The play is full of mildly funny moments, and some of it is apparently improvised, but the actors don’t seem quite up to the task of the improvised segments. In one notable spot they completely broke character and even admitted to doing so. Possibly this play suffers from the exact opposite problem as the previously reviewed Fairy Tales Scratched, where it felt too much like improv and not enough like scripted.

It’s also possible the difficulties with the improv were just due to last show fatigue setting in. But overall, the only time the play came above chuckleworthy for me was when they broke character, and the greater themes weren’t explored in enough detail to make up for that. I just couldn’t get too engaged in this one.

Tags: ***, Big Cat Facial Cream Productions, Connor Thompson, Devon Hyland, Norah Franklin