Sideshow Staff Piques

1 [ trans. ] stimulate (interest or curiosity) : you have piqued my curiosity

June 9th, 2010

Hi Readers!

Welcome back to Sideshow Staff Piques! Pique, get it? It’s a play on words. We are just so punny here at Sideshow. Punny, get it? Like funny. Ok I’m done.

My pick this week is for YOU to go check out Mortar Theatre’s first production, the world premiere of Inherit the Whole by Dana Lynn Formby. Story in a nutshell and from their site: Inherit the Whole is a story of a Vietnam vet, Doug, who has given up on the world in order to create peace for himself in the house his parents left him. His family pays a visit, looking for a rumored truck of gold their dad buried under the house nearly thirty years ago. To prove the gold doesn’t exist, Doug joins his family in ripping through the floorboards of his own house. As he digs deeper into the ground, he finds a glimmer of hope – causing him to give up on the peace he almost found.

Family drama, no shirts, messy living rooms!

I don’t necessarily want to review this show because I’m not a reviewer, and that feels weird. I’ll just tell you what I like about it. First off, it felt old school. I haven’t watched a realistic, family drama where the events take place in a day and everyone in one location for a very long time. And I haven’t watched this type of play as a NEW PLAY in a long time either. I think if David Mamet, Arthur Miller and Eugene O’Neill had some type of crazy orgy and by a miracle made a baby, it might be Dana Formby. The play just felt that classic and American. I thought that was cool.

The acting was also super hot. While I thought everyone rocked, Stephanie Stroud who plays Lisa, and Christopher Jon Martin who plays Paul really got me. I verbally accosted them at the after party and probably seemed like a creepy groupie. I was thrilled to find out Christopher’s tattoos are real (he sports an entire pirate ship on his entire back)!

Lastly, the staging was way cool. A door flew off it’s hinges, there was REAL DIRT everywhere, a full size mattress fit on stage, and since I was in the first row, sweat was flying off the actors. I liked watching them act the shit outta that play.

Again, not a reviewer, so don’t expect this post to be freaking Shakespeare. Though I would be entertained if a theatre reviewer insisted on writing in Shakespearean English. Any takers?

Mortar Theatre’s production of Inherit the Whole is only a four week run, ending June 27th. Go check it out! Tickets are $20 but they have some discounts too, including student tickets for $15.

That’s my pick. Chat with you lovely people later.

Ms. Megan