On The Spot Theatre's Feelin' Groovy
(out of 
)Mark S.P. Turvin
(home office) (602) 912-0117
I can be reached for comment via e-mail at: mspt@goldfishpublishers.com
Reviewed 3/26/99
(out of )There are only two consistent sources of new theatre in the valley, and one of them is On The Spot Theatre, Terry Earp's production company, where the playwright/producer mounts her own work with the help of her ensemble. New work in theatre is often given the shaft, since the act of starting from scratch means that the product is untested. Ms. Earp has been successful, though, mounting her plays, as well as original works by other local playwrights. While Ms. Earp has gathered acclaim for her creations, this reviewer has been disheartened by what seems to be Ms. Earp's blatant disregard for dramaturgy. While some of her work functions, she seems to make the same writing mistakes over and over, never learning from her past errors. With her latest creation, Feelin' Groovy, she causes more problems for herself by directing her own work, which seemingly splits her concentration, and sinks this show into a fast-paced mish-mosh of improbable characters, unbelievable situations and more deus ex machina's than Ms. Earp has ever before crammed into a script.
Set in "a dead hippie's bedroom," Bliss is a '60s specter
trapped in her old, dazzlingly decorated bedroom after a drug
overdose. Set in the present, a young girl with psychic powers,
Cherie, convinces Bliss' mom, Maggie, to let her stay in the Haversham-like
chamber to contact Bliss. She lies about the reasons for this,
though it has to do with revelations in the diary of Bliss' recently
deceased best friend, Janet, who has left behind granddaughter
Cherie and daughter Sarah, an uptight '90s woman. The familial
intrigues are strained, to say the least, and the central theme,
the relationship between mothers and daughters, is nearly beaten
to death by talk about the past and unwarranted twists of fate.
To make matters worse, there are some select moments where the
dialogue is funny, or the connections are poignant,
which is unfortunate, considering how bad a shambles the rest
of the writing and production is.
In terms of the writing, there is too much material that needs
to be gotten through to explain and justify the many, convoluted
relationships. As is Ms. Earp's habit, the show is filled with
all-too convenient twists whenever she has written herself into
a corner. One of many examples from this show: How can a door
lock and unlock itself, and switch keys for its locking? The show
also lacks basic consistencies, such as the use of the ghostly
tantrums of Bliss, which are either reacted to or not by the other
characters as helps the author to advance the story. By the sappy
ending of the evening, no character has acted consistently, and
the finale seems just a contrived way of letting an audience leave
with smiles on their faces, a playwright's choice that contains
a whiff of pandering.
Ms. Earp, the director, has paced this play at a breakneck speed,
which is generally a good choice, unless there is a huge amount
of material to cover just to set up and wind down the script.
While the play maintains a '60s sentiment, it is set to a '90s
speed, which makes the character's realizations and reactions
seem even more contrived. Also, despite knowing the limitations
of Raymond King Shurtz' lighting, which simply could not
fill the downstage center area, quite a bit of the action wound
up in shadows.
Ms. Earp's casting was a bit better, although the screechy quality
of Caitlin Donahoe's voice in portraying the psychic schoolgirl,
Cherie, was truly painful to the ears. There is a long stretch
of the second act where a scarf is placed over Ms. Donahoe's head
while she is communing with the spirits of the room, and that
respite is one of the best moments in the show. Earp regular Maggie
Wade struggles valiantly with her crackpot characterization
of matron Maggie, but never finds what little shading has been
given to her kooky character. Mylinda Lykins' frenetic
spirit, Bliss, is solid, and even better is Tiffinie Greer's
portrayal of '90s woman, Sarah, although both of their conversions
at the end are hokey and unbelievable. Finally, as the full-sized
exotic dancer, Janet, Elizabeth Scheffer plays the one
note the author gives the character, but never finds the rest
of the keys.
In addition to her roles of playwright, producer and director,
Ms. Earp fared better as Sound Designer, and Set Designer in conjunction
with Patty Barnes. The stage is a bright acid trip back
to the Flower Power-era, although everything looked a little too
new to be three decades old. Her music choices aided her play,
and made good commentary on the proceedings.
Ms. Earp is a basically talented playwright desperately in need
of a Dramaturg. With an outside editor for her plays, she might
be able to avoid the pitfalls that she constantly loads into her
scripts, and raise her plays from a few steps above vanity productions
into works worthy of production outside of the confines of On
The Spot Theatre.
Production Details:
Feelin' Groovy by Terry Earp
On The Spot Theatre, Phoenix
(602) 564-6606
March 5th - April 3rd, 1999