Review: VERY BERRY DEAD Makes a Big Impression at Big Storm Performance Company

There are certain pieces of art that are new, but feel like they've always been with us. Not in any hoary, cliched or predictable way, but because they fit so comfortably into the canon that it's hard to believe this is the first you are seeing and hearing of them. Very Berry Dead, a tragicomic play by local actor, writer and fight choreographer José Pérez IV, is one of those shows: it's certainly not quite like anything you've seen before, but it FEELS like something that had to exist, that was always going to exist. A play that feels at home in the canon, and that audiences will feel at home seeing.

Something terrible has happened on the Berry family farm in Vermont, a big, terrible, SOMETHING, and now fifteen people are dead. As family matriarch Ma (Sarah Deasy) calls the family home from all over the country to pay their respects, the home is quickly filled with relatives, rivalries, resentments and a few genuine kooks. Tensions mount to a head when a well-meaning but officious city health inspector (Matt Henderson) begins to look into the zoning regulations around the family cemetery. Will the family be able to air their grievances and squash their beef before the morgue is forced to dispose of the bodies themselves?

As directed by Tayor Couch, José Pérez IV's play zips along comfortably like a miniature August: Osage County, swinging wildly between good-natured sitcom warmth, dark modern drama, and a mine of deep, pitch-black humor between the two zones. At just over ninety minutes, it's hard to believe how much ground is covered and how deeply we come to know these characters. Thankfully, beyond a remarkably solid script we are gifted with a cast full of Pittsburgh's finest character actors. From the moment we meet these characters, we can tell exactly who they are... and by the end of the show, we realize they are all (with two notable exceptions) somewhat more complex than we thought.

Anchoring the show is Sarah Deasy as the matriarch, known almost exclusively as Ma regardless of her actual relationships. Deasy has a deep well of emotion that she rarely goes to the bottom of; her portrayal of a strong but tired woman keeping it together with a layer of cynicism and warmth on top makes her the production's emotional linchpin. On either side of her strong presence are author José Pérez IV and Claire Sabatine, as J.J., the sibling who stayed home, and Casey, the one who left for the big city. Pérez gives J.J. something of an Anthony Rapp quality- that mix of wry humor, gentleness and desire to be the peacemaker. It contrasts well with Sabatine's high-strung, Type-A portrayal of the stereotypical "big city businesswoman," who naturally turns out to be less stereotypical and together than she initially appears. The extended scenes between siblings are rich in both comedy and tragedy, and their relationship is bolstered by the warmth of Julia Kreutzer, winning and sweet as Casey's partner Riley.

Surrounding the show's emotional core are a trio of more comedic performances. First, Ernesto Mario Sánchez gives his best "Norm MacDonald as Burt Reynolds" in the role of Scat, who left the farm for rootin-tootin Texas living. Sánchez swaggers, sings, brawls, cracks wise and lives up to everything being bigger in Texas, from his height to Scat's ego and grandiose mannerisms. He's the ultimate "fun uncle when you're a kid" who hasn't learned how to be a grown-up with grown-ups yet.

Carolyn Jerz lights up the stage from her first entrance, almost literally. Dressed in bright colors and elaborately coiffed, with her face made up so pale white that it glows (think Björk meets Catherine O'Hara in Beetlejuice), Jerz imbues the role of spiritualist and yoga enthusiast Marigold with an outsider energy that is otherworldly, larger than life, but never cold or alienating. Marigold, it seems, never walks when she can dance or float, and would rather drop dramatically into a yoga pose than sit in a chair. Jerz's bursts of physical humor, highly mannered speech patterns and comic timing keep a fresh, zany but earthy presence in the show's darker moments. The chemistry between Sánchez and Jerz as the two "family weirdos" is a highlight as well, as the cowboy and the witch girl seem to perpetually butt heads.

Finally, there is Matt Henderson, as civil servant Sims. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Henderson is highly underrated, one of Pittsburgh's greatest comedic actors. Sims is a role which needs to be funny, yet on the page would likely have very little humor inherent in it. Henderson brings both a warmth and a stiffness to the enthusiastic, unflappable little bureaucrat, making him a man who truly believes in his job's importance and legitimacy in the face of disinterest and disdain. It's a peculiar, upright nobility that Henderson leans into, making this character more than just a nerd.

As a writer myself, who spent approximately the same amount of time as Pérez on developing and workshopping my latest show, I have to wonder: where does Very Berry Dead go next? This is a show in remarkably good shape for a world premiere; if it had been presented as "one of Broadway's biggest straight plays of the last few years" at City Theatre or the Public, I would not have questioned it once. Like I mentioned earlier, this is a show that feels at home in the twenty-first century American theatre; I only hope that same feeling of home is recognized by major companies nationwide. Very Berry Dead is very berry good, and deserves a very berry big audience.

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