Review: HAVE A GOOD ONE at Pop-up Playhouse

Upon entering the Dorie Theatre at the Complex Hollywood tonight and seeing an enlarged black and white image of a shirtless man on a dimly-lit stage as 90s music blared through the speakers, I turned to my friend and asked, "Did they pump this place with cheap cologne or have I been transported back to Abercrombie & Fitch?" The effect was perfect. Even beneath a KN95 my senses were fooled and I immediately craved a sample of teriyaki chicken on a toothpick.

It's an idea with a lot of potential- a look at the reality of being a shirtless male greeter at a trendy clothing franchise in a Midwestern mall at the cusp of the twenty-first century. Pop-up Playhouse's production of Stan Zimmerman and Christian McLaughlin's Have a Good One packs plenty of perked-up pecs and promises progressive precepts, but does it have a pulsing heart beneath all of that decorative tissue? The text flounders as a rough draft of a pilot for a workplace comedy, intercut with notes from the authors on why we should- without being given any logical reason- root for our four main characters. Rather than win us over with charm or by facing situations with any manner of raised stakes, these four co-workers vie for immediate audience sympathy by unloading (through either direct address or stilted dialogue) a clown car full of stock sob stories. Within the first twenty minutes of the show, any audience member who had brought with them a Hallmark Movie BINGO card, would be elated to cross off the top row: single-parent, cancer, community college, distant father, and over-worked single woman. BINGO!

The playwrights reveal their ages not only through a winking apology that presupposes the painted devil of "cancel culture" will attack the work, but in their stubbornness to allow the workplace comedy to grow with the zeitgeist. Have a Good One, as a period piece set in a period not too long ago, has the distinct opportunity to comment on a contemporary workplace culture in which young people feel isolated, starved for validation, and exhausted by a Sisyphean grind. These are not new problems, but the conversations around them as we navigate a pandemic-ridden world with new popular awarenesses of oppression have shifted. Where commentary could shine through and comedy about a different time could lead to catharsis, we instead are bombarded with cheap gags about floppy discs and an onslaught of pop culture references. In the end, an attempt to teach a moral feels detached from the 75 minutes of weak sexual innuendos we just witnessed and lands more like a finger-wagging assembly than an uplifting message.

Noelle Filippone is the star of the show. She lends a natural charisma to the annoying stock character of Gretchen (a role which she understudies), and her dry wit makes even the densest dialogue seem endearing. Tom Plumley, Adrian Gamez, and Tanner Stine are each appropriately cast in their respective roles, kudos to Julie Gale's casting work.

Ultimately, the audience had a fun time at Have a Good One. They laughed on cue and applauded at the end. I am interested to see what becomes of this idea and how Zimmerman and McLaughlin further develop this work.

The show runs through October 17th at The Complex. Tickets are available here.

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