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Fresh look at family dysfunction
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Reviewed by: FRAN HELLER Contributing Writer
Just when you’re thinking … oh, no, not another play about family dysfunction, along comes an original voice like that of New York Jewish playwright Carly Mensch, whose offbeat comedy, “All Hail Hurricane Gordo” takes a fresh, funny look at her subject.
This tale of two brothers n one, a developmentally challenged misfit, and the other, his caretaker n is being presented at The Cleveland Play House in conjunction with FusionFest. “All Hail …” is a co-production between The Play House and the Humana Festival of New Plays at Actors Theatre in Louisville, where it had its world première in 2008.
Chaz and Gordo, both 20-something, were abandoned by their parents in a parking lot some 12 years prior. The two have been on their own ever since. In order to eat, Chaz has been selling off the household furnishings.
When the hyperkinetic Gordo isn’t beating his head against the wall in a Chargers helmet, Chaz writes letters to strangers with the same surname as his, in hopes of finding some relative to claim them as their kin.
When an 18-year-old runaway named India enters their lives, she disrupts their routine and forces Chaz to confront all that he has sacrificed for Gordo while putting his own life on hold.
Smartly directed by Sean Daniels, the Cleveland production features the original Louisville cast. While “All Hail …” is not a perfect play, it shows considerable imagination and skill from Mensch, age 24.
In her tightly constructed play, Mensch has created a bighearted story that is funny, insightful and quite moving with funky characters that are believable and endearing. Outsider India serves as a catalyst for change. But the introduction of a furry rabbit as the deus ex machina in the second act stalls the play.
In the opening scene, the neatly dressed and bespectacled Chaz sits at his desk typing letters, while the grungy looking Gordo, in boxer shorts and boy’s pajama tops, keeps distracting him. (Costumes are by Lorraine Venberg).
Paul Owen’s telltale set of a rundown and filthy domicile is littered with piles of telephone books. Dingy, bare walls are covered with faded outlines where pictures once hung, except for a single photograph of two well-groomed young schoolboys.
While Gordo is dependent on Chaz, Chaz is equally dependent on Gordo, using his caretaking role as an excuse for not getting on with his own life. The play is about personal growth and letting go. What keeps it from getting sappy is the playwright’s quirky brand of humor and a sense of mystery. We have no idea why Chaz and Gordo’s parents have disappeared or why India has run away from a seemingly functional and well-off family.
With his unwashed hair and limbs in perpetual motion, a wired Patrick James Lynch perfectly projects the hyperactive and painfully needy Gordo. One of the most touching scenes is when India’s father Oscar shows up to reclaim his daughter. Starved for affection, Gordo starts mimicking the older man’s actions, ultimately resting his head on Oscar’s shoulder. It’s an utterly human and profoundly sad moment.
As Chaz, Matthew Dellapina is an appealing mix of love and resentment as an older brother forced to play the role of a parent while being robbed of his own youth.
Tracee Chimo is all attitude as the feisty, rebellious India.
A hyperventilating William McNulty personifies India’s exasperated and well-meaning father.
According to printed sources, Play House chief Michael Bloom hopes “All Hail …” will attract a younger audience as well as put The Play House on the map nationally. The forward-thinking artistic director is to be commended on both counts.
For Fran Heller’s review of Karamu’s “The Blacks,” visit www.cleve land jewish news.com
WHAT: “All Hail Hurricane Gordo”
WHERE: The Cleveland Play House
WHEN: through May 11
TICKETS: 216-795-7000, ext. 4, or, www.clevelandplayhouse.com
Just when you’re thinking … oh, no, not another play about family dysfunction, along comes an original voice like that of New York Jewish playwright Carly Mensch, whose offbeat comedy, “All Hail Hurricane Gordo” takes a fresh, funny look at her subject.
This tale of two brothers n one, a developmentally challenged misfit, and the other, his caretaker n is being presented at The Cleveland Play House in conjunction with FusionFest. “All Hail …” is a co-production between The Play House and the Humana Festival of New Plays at Actors Theatre in Louisville, where it had its world première in 2008.
Chaz and Gordo, both 20-something, were abandoned by their parents in a parking lot some 12 years prior. The two have been on their own ever since. In order to eat, Chaz has been selling off the household furnishings.
When the hyperkinetic Gordo isn’t beating his head against the wall in a Chargers helmet, Chaz writes letters to strangers with the same surname as his, in hopes of finding some relative to claim them as their kin.
When an 18-year-old runaway named India enters their lives, she disrupts their routine and forces Chaz to confront all that he has sacrificed for Gordo while putting his own life on hold.
Smartly directed by Sean Daniels, the Cleveland production features the original Louisville cast. While “All Hail …” is not a perfect play, it shows considerable imagination and skill from Mensch, age 24.
In her tightly constructed play, Mensch has created a bighearted story that is funny, insightful and quite moving with funky characters that are believable and endearing. Outsider India serves as a catalyst for change. But the introduction of a furry rabbit as the deus ex machina in the second act stalls the play.
In the opening scene, the neatly dressed and bespectacled Chaz sits at his desk typing letters, while the grungy looking Gordo, in boxer shorts and boy’s pajama tops, keeps distracting him. (Costumes are by Lorraine Venberg).
Paul Owen’s telltale set of a rundown and filthy domicile is littered with piles of telephone books. Dingy, bare walls are covered with faded outlines where pictures once hung, except for a single photograph of two well-groomed young schoolboys.
While Gordo is dependent on Chaz, Chaz is equally dependent on Gordo, using his caretaking role as an excuse for not getting on with his own life. The play is about personal growth and letting go. What keeps it from getting sappy is the playwright’s quirky brand of humor and a sense of mystery. We have no idea why Chaz and Gordo’s parents have disappeared or why India has run away from a seemingly functional and well-off family.
With his unwashed hair and limbs in perpetual motion, a wired Patrick James Lynch perfectly projects the hyperactive and painfully needy Gordo. One of the most touching scenes is when India’s father Oscar shows up to reclaim his daughter. Starved for affection, Gordo starts mimicking the older man’s actions, ultimately resting his head on Oscar’s shoulder. It’s an utterly human and profoundly sad moment.
As Chaz, Matthew Dellapina is an appealing mix of love and resentment as an older brother forced to play the role of a parent while being robbed of his own youth.
Tracee Chimo is all attitude as the feisty, rebellious India.
A hyperventilating William McNulty personifies India’s exasperated and well-meaning father.
According to printed sources, Play House chief Michael Bloom hopes “All Hail …” will attract a younger audience as well as put The Play House on the map nationally. The forward-thinking artistic director is to be commended on both counts.
For Fran Heller’s review of Karamu’s “The Blacks,” visit www.cleve land jewish news.com
WHAT: “All Hail Hurricane Gordo”
WHERE: The Cleveland Play House
WHEN: through May 11
TICKETS: 216-795-7000, ext. 4, or, www.clevelandplayhouse.com
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