Review: Echo Theatre Company's Quirky Production of CRUMBLE

Echo Theatre Company, who continually push the envelope by presenting fresh and daring plays and musicals as part of their theatrical mission, offer up the St. Louis premiere of playwright Sheila Callaghan's wacky and surreal work CRUMBLE (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake) for your holiday season perusal, and it's a tasty morsel. This is a truly odd, but engaging play that confounds expectations and, in its own weird little way, provides its characters with a way to reconcile their feelings and get over their grief. While not your typical holiday offering, CRUMBLE is certainly worthy of your attention, particularly if you like things that are quirky and offbeat.

Janice and her Mother live in a crumbling apartment building, but one that must have been quite impressive in its heyday, at least, if we're to believe what the building itself has to say. Mother and daughter are still grieving over the loss of their husband and father, who plunged to his death while hanging a Christmas ornament. The scars are still visible, with Janice, who's going through puberty, and having dark thoughts about her future, contrasted by her Mother, who's capable of supporting her family on her own, but incapable of escaping the questions that nag at her night after night. There's also the sinister presence of the apartment to contend with, which has come to hate the way its been neglected by its present tenants. It all comes to a head as Christmas approaches and the Mother dutifully purchases the peculiar list of items Janice has requested, completely unaware of the dangerous manner in which they can be combined.

Terry Meddows imbues his role as the apartment with a cynical sadness born from years of abuse. He longs for the days when someone would lovingly polish his wood surfaces, and cringes and rails at his current dilapidated appearance. Chelsea Serocke is very good as Janice, and we get a clear glimpse of the abuse her character takes at school as she speaks through her dolls. Kirsten Wylder is also solid as the Mother, a talented chef who obviously knows her way around a menu, but can't fathom the combination of ingredients her daughter has asked her to get her for Christmas. Colleen Backer amuses as the Mother's sister, Barbara, a delusional "cat lady", and Justin Ivan Brown does nice work as Justin Timberlake (the daughter's fantasy), Harrison Ford (the Mother's fantasy), and the Father.

Director (and self-described designer of everything else) Eric Little brings this whimsical and brief (about 65-70 minutes) work to life in fine fashion, with a decaying set providing plenty of neat little spaces for Terry Meddows to poke through to harass the family. Maureen Hanratty's lighting design acts to heighten the overall mood.

Echo Theatre Company's funny and surprisingly moving production of CRUMBLE (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake) continues through December 19, 2010 in the ArtSpace at Crestwood Court.

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