Feast of Fools Theatre's Fight Club at Planet Earth Theatre
(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 6/3/00
(out of )There are some theatre pieces you enjoy. There are some that you experience. There are some shows that you endure, and others from which you feel like you have escaped. And then there's Feast of Fools Theatre's Fight Club, which is all of these things. There can be no doubt that Feast of Fools' energetic founder and guru, Michael J. Alessandro, is equal amounts of genius and madman. Only a madman would take such film classics as Resevoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, and adapted works such as The Princess Bride and Fight Club, and mount them in a stage production. Conversely, only a genius can make these pieces somehow work (to varying degrees).
Mr. Alessandro's latest obsession with alternate media has led him to this, Chuck Palahniuk's controversial novel-made-into-a-movie. While his justifications for this trend are somewhat valid, such as introducing theatre to those audiences who might not otherwise be attracted, and opening the repertoire to broader subject matter, there's a consistency to his choices that makes one suspect a penchant for the ultra-violent. This is source material that is either loved or hated, with little middle ground. Ironically, that's probably the response an audience member will feel with Mr. Alessandro's production. Or else they'll feel both at once, as I did.
The material deals with one man's reaction to his disenfranchisement from modern day catalogue culture. He teams up with a subversive specialty soap manufacturer named Tyler Durden, and together they gather other alienated men from the lower tiers of society to form a secret group that beats each other to a bloody pulp in fair, one-on-one fights. It is this act of knocking each other senseless that reawakens them from their capitalist stupor. Between the two friends, they share a self-destructive, vibrant vixen named Marla. This mismatched trio keeps raising the stakes, until the very structure of society is threatened.
Mr. Alessandro's production is a marathon. The second night clocked in at ten minutes short of three hours. Due to technical difficulties, the first act dragged on endlessly, killing any sense of the needed militaristic pacing. There are moments of divine brilliance, which, if sustained, could result in a play with a life beyond the confines of the stifling, though fitting Planet Earth venue. The opening moments hold great promise, as the audience's names are taken while moving into the wonderfully designed space. An audience member is seemingly dragged into an evening of Fight Club, with his blood splashing onto the pants legs of the front row. The result is terrifying, as all audience members fear for one moment their name will be next. A similar situation opens the second act. Unfortunately, this intense amount of audience participation quickly lapses into simple dependence on audience eye contact while lecturing. More creative ways of breaking the fourth wall would be welcomed in this material-matching attempt at guerilla theatre.
Casting is problematic when dealing with a film featuring three high-profile stars. Unfortunately, Mr. Alessandro is not quite as effective as fellow leads Steve Medieros and Debby Bell. While all three are very strong, Mr. Alessandro's believability is not at the level of Mr. Medieros' Tyler and Ms. Bell's Marla, and it's harder to accept his involvement in Fight Club. Mr. Medieros has a great amount of the intensity necessary for his role, and Ms. Bell, while sometimes too disconnected from the proceedings, does a great job as the wilted, self-hating flower.
The ensemble of men behind these three is very solid. This is personified by Paul Huebl in the small-though-crucial role of testicular cancer-survivor Bob, and Reverend Steve Galindo, who are totally invested and, though awkward in first act pacing, embrace their roles with the kind of commitment necessary to pull of the impossible.
Of special note is John Rich's fight choreography, which is phenomenal throughout, especially in the ballet-like final confrontation between Messrs. Alessandro and Medieros.
This piece is not for everyone. It is hard-hitting, overlong, and nearly identical to the movie, save for the use of the true ending from the book, which is a great and welcomed revelation. It contains incessant violence, profane language, and nudity. With liberal trimming, and more precise pacing, though, this production has the potential to inspire and offend audiences on a much larger scale. While you may disagree with its content, and feel emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, and morally raped by the end, the fact that this production creates such violent emotion shows that inspired lunatic Alessandro may well be onto something here.
Production Details:
Fight Club: A Play Inspired
by the novel from Chuck Palahuiuk
Feast of Fools Theatre
Planet Earth Theatre, Phoenix
(602) 522-9280
June 2nd - 18th, 2000