BWW Reviews: Cone Man Running Productions' SPONTANEOUS SMATTERING - THE THIRD is the Iron Chef of Theatre

On Saturday night, August 25, I had the pleasure of attending Cone Man Running Productions' most recent SPONTANEOUS SMATTERING. Although this was my first official Smattering, Saturday night was Cone Man Running Productions' third inception, and it was clear that they had gathered an avid fan base over the past two productions. A couple of laughs into the first short play, I could see why it has become such a popular event. This twenty-four hour play festival showcases the creative talent of local playwrights, directors, and actors and provides Houston audiences with a night of theatre that is anything but mainstream.

Twenty-four hours before the first performance, playwrights participating in the SPONTANEOUS SMATTERING were subjected to a mixed bag of requirements. They were given a theme for the production, this year's theme being superstition. Each playwright was also required to incorporate a specific line into their short play, "Our love is like a [noun] - [adjective], [adjective], and [adjective]." Incidentally, each writer was also tasked with drawing a random genre out of a hat and randomly assigned a group of actors. Given only the night to craft a script, writers met at the theatre the following morning, where they were assigned a director. The director and the cast had the rest of the day to stage the short play, learn lines, and gather props and costumes. A final twist was given to the directors, as they were provided with a brightly colored feather boa and tasked with creatively incorporating it into their play.

The twenty-four hour frenzy culminated in a riotously funny evening consisting of eight short original plays, and some really memorable one-liners. The evening featured works from some of Houston's favorite playwrights such as Bryan Maynard, Eric James, Michael Weems, Leighza Walker, Fernando Dovalina, L. RoBert Westeen, Nicholas Garelick, and Conor Farrell. Among the talent pool, were the directors who were responsible for bringing the scripts to life: Stacy Bakri, Lulu Mire, Keshia Lovewell, Scott Holmes, Amy Pope, Sam Martinez, Tom Stell, and Erica Smith. It should also be noted that the actors in each of these plays were also extremely fun to watch, and given the time constraints placed upon them, performed very well. It was completely apparent that each cast was having a great time on-stage and that the audience members off-stage were having just as much fun. At the end of the evening, everyone was allowed to vote for several awards (i.e. Best Use of Genre, Best Use of Line, Best Script, etc.).

The play winning the most awards, and voted best script was TALLYWHACK, written by Eric James and directed by Lulu Mire. Eric James made excellent use of his assigned genre, Period Piece, by bombarding the audience's senses with a foul-mouthed Native American Indian named Tallywhack and his interactions with a puritanical and repressed husband and wife. The cast for this short play, Lauren Hainley, Rebecca Johnson-Edgerly, Michael Raabe, and Eddie Rodriguez played off of each other well, making awkward moments extremely awkward and elevating the tension from the time period into quite a comedy.

THE INVESTIGATION OF MAGNOLIA MANOR, written by Conor Ferrell and directed by Erica Smith, was voted Best Use of Superstition and Best Use of Line. Conor Ferrell did a good job with his genre of Horror/Thriller and turning paranormal investigation shows upside down on their head. The cast, comprised of Amanda Perez, Katherine Rinaldi, Mark Stanley, and Clarity Welch. They had the audience in stitches, often having to break for laughs themselves.

Nicholas Garelick's play, DEATH STATION DANCE REVOLUTION, also took home two awards. The assigned genre was Science Fiction/Fantasy, and the script successfully integrated contemporary humor and current pop culture references to create a memorable short play. With direction by Tom Stell and over-the-top acting and dance moves from the cast members Lindsy Greig, Randi Hall, Ruth S. McCleskey, and Megan Nix, it was no wonder that they were voted Best in Show and Cast That Looked Like They Had the Most Fun. As an audience member, I had fun watching them and it isn't every day that you can go to the theatre and see someone dance Gangnam Style.

To me, there were also a couple of other plays that stood out in some shape or form. My favorite play of the evening was BLANKETS, STONES, AND TP written by L. RoBert Westeen and directed by Sam Martinez. The script followed a film student's last project, which was to create a documentary. Before long, toilet paper addictions and blanket obsessions are revealed. That just scratches the surface of what comes up in this short production. Bob Galley, Sierra Irwin, Robert L. Jacobs Jr., and Anthony Torres effectively made the audience smile, laugh, and for a brief moment even struck a tiny sentimental chord.

Another script that I really enjoyed and also felt used the genre effectively was FAIRY MUELLER'S DAY OFF written by Fernando Dovalina and directed by Amy Pope. I felt that Fernando Dovalina's script was witty and clever, as it took 80s movie clichés to another level. The cast, Adam Barr, Louis Crespo, Travis Wayne Hamilton, and Jenny Klonizchii, deftly portrayed those 80s stereotypes right down to The Breakfast Club's fist pump in the air.

Michael Weems' play, A HEART FULL OF BALLS, directed by Keshia Lovewell, provided the audience with a modern feel good sports story. The script had all of the tell-tale elements, such as failure, victory, love, loss, and even a little bit of soccer. One doesn't often say this about a feel good sports story, but it was rather hysterical. J.R. Marshall, Cindy Lou Parker, Callina Situka, and Rachel Wesley delivered high energy performances and gave viewers someone to root for.

Another cast that I felt performed extremely well, given the time constraints was Anita Darby, Jess Lavesseur, and Mike McDermott in Bryan Maynard's THE MAN FROM M.A.N.O.M.A.N. The short spy play centered on a couple who were international spies on a stakeout and blurred the lines between business and pleasure. Directed by Stacy Bakri, the cast exuded excellent on-stage chemistry and embraced their required Russian and German accents, reminiscent of Natasha and Boris.

JUST ONE LOOK AND I CAN HEAR A BELL RING, written by Leighza Walker and directed by Scott Holmes, not only fulfilled the genre task of Romantic Comedy, but also successfully incorporated the theme of superstition into the script. Leighza Walker's play centered around a man on his twenty-first birthday who is told that he is the deceased husband an older woman and the father to her daughter. Like many of the plays debuted on Saturday, hilarity ensues from what seems like a serious premise. Jada August, Rolando Cantu Jr., Stacey Carraro, and LeeAnne Denny delivered a subtly charming and altogether enjoyable performance.

Cone Man Running Productions' SPONTANEOUS SMATTERING - THE THIRD was an evening that really was too good to miss. I am already looking forward to attending their production next year. It is not to say that the evening was mistake free. On the contrary, there was the occasional line flub, or the minor breaking of character to laugh, and even a minor broken prop. However, with the challenge at hand, those minor specifics actually fueled the audience to laugh even more in the spirit of the evening. The evening was like the Iron Chef competition for the theatre community. These actors, directors, and playwrights were given a challenging time constraint, a handful of parameters, and were then told to create. The truly incredible thing is that in that short time, they were quite successful at writing, staging, costuming, learning lines, and making it work. It was a truly wacky night of interactive theatre, but it was also a showcase of some of the most talented and creative minds that Houston's theatre community has to offer.

For more information on upcoming shows, by Cone Man Running Productions, or to get ready for next year's Smattering, please visit http://conemanprod.wix.com/home.

Photos courtesy of Cone Man Running Productions.

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