Native Speech: Radio Ga Ga

I am a big fan of both Eric Overmyer and Vinnie Penna, so when I heard that the latter would be appearing in the former's Native Speech as Hungry Mother, I was drooling with anticipation (I signed up to review immediately upon hearing that Boomerang Theatre Company was bravely going to tackle Native Speech- I only found out about the Penna, to my excitement, later).  I'm very glad to say that I was not disappointed.  Native Speech is playing as part of Boomerang Theatre Company's 10th Anniversary Season, which also includes Summer and Smoke, by Tennessee Williams, and the world premiere of Parking Lot Lonely Heart, by Colin McKenna, both of which I'll also be reviewing.

Overmyer's play takes place in a dystopian near future where crime and big-city desolation have reached a pinnacle of despair.  The one bright light is The Hungry Mother (Vinnie Penna), a talk radio DJ who, to keep himself sane, is still broadcasting to anyone who might be listening- he jokes and jives, making up amusingly depressing news items. When he begins to discover that not only are people listening, but the horrific things he's been inventing and reporting are actually happening, he begins his descent into paranoid excess.  Also on hand are those that pass as friends: Free Lance (Jessica Angleskhan), a prostitute, and her pimp/lover The Mook (David Roberts); Belly Up, an old jail buddy of Mother's, and Janis (Alisha Spielmann), a desperate young woman who wants the help and love of Hungry Mother.  And there are those more sinister creatures- Charlie Samoa (Mel Nieves), a thug with his goons, Jimmy Shillelgah (Pierluca Arancio) and the transvestite Johnny Sucrose (Chris Chinn), who Hungry Mother met some time ago in jail- as well as the previously-imaginary patho-rock band Hoover and the Navajos (Michael R. Rosete, Stephanie Lyn Silver and Pierluca Arancio).

The script, though set in the future, is a 1980s vision of projected urban decay which now seems strangely dated, like the futuristic visions of the 1950s did in the 80s; the ideas are still relevant, but references to 'Nam are made by people too young, and anyway who uses vinyl anymore (or the radio, for that matter)?

 Penna is a wonder as Hungry Mother- as the lynchpin of the piece, in nearly every scene, he never lets up- Overmyer has written some wonderfully labyrinthine monologues that Penna negotiates with ease.  He's equally affecting in the dialogue scenes, world-weary, but with a befuddled tenderness that belies his hopeless stance.

Angleskhan is excellent as Free Lance, giving a superbly nuanced performance, though she is Indian instead of (as the script specifies) Black, which was slightly out of tune with the text at times, but her performance is great, so it's hard to quibble.  David Roberts is effectively intimidating as The Mook- the role was originally played by Samuel L. Jackson, and Roberts conjures up the appropriate sense of subtle menace.  Alisha Spielmann is touching as Janis, though I've always imagined the character as a bit more fragile.

The other characters are less effective.  Gil Giles is a bit too young for Belly Up, playing him more as a modern thug than ex-army; Nieves, Chinn, and Arancio don't seem to get the style of the piece, overplaying their menacing roles into comedy and losing the sense of the words- Chinn, though certainly pretty, is not convincing as a woman in his transvestitism, leaving Mother's line "What's she doing in here?" (A men's Jail) as hopelessly naive. All three are, however, quite effective in a later scene where they attack Mother (very impressive fight direction by Carrie Brewer).  Rosete, Silver, and Arancio are great as Hoover and the Navajos, though they too occasionally lose their handle on the rhythms of Overmyer's text.

 It's an impressive production of a rarely-seen play.  I'm glad I got to witness it.

 

Native Speech

by Eric Overmyer

Boomerang Theatre Company's 10 Anniversary Rep Season

At CenterStage/NY

48 W 21st St, 4th Floor

 

Tickets $20 or season pass of $35 to see all three plays.  Purchase online at Theatermania.com or call 212-501-4069 for reservations and information.

http://www.boomerangtheatre.org

48 W 21st St, 4th Floor

 

Tickets $20 or season pass of $35 to see all three plays.  Purchase online at Theatermania.com or call 212-501-4069 for reservations and information.

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