Oedipal Undies
Jake's Women at Stagebrush Theatre
*1/2 (out of *****)
Mark S.P. Turvin
(w) 965-1021  (h) 894-5443
I can be reached for comment via e-mail at: mspt@asu.edu

	BY NEIL SIMON. For two-and-a-half decades, those three words 
symbolized the makings of a great piece of comedy. The Odd Couple. 
Plaza Suite. Brighton Beach Memoirs. Since the dawn of the 90's, 
though, a series of lackluster scripts has brought down the once 
great and mighty NEIL SIMON. These days, he can't even get a show 
produced on Broadway, and has been forced to look for Off-Broadway 
and Regional alternatives.
	If you don't understand how the mighty have fallen, drop by 
the Stagebrush Theatre, as they put up one of Neil's more recent 
flops, Jake's Women. This "comedy" continues a pitiful and 
shameful tradition innocently started in Brighton Beach Memoirs: 
Simon's obession with his mother. Just when you thought that a 
younger Neil Simon dancing with his mother at the end of Memoirs 
had put those ghosts to rest, you get to watch two-and-a-half 
hours of a man pathetically grappling with a mother fixation that 
it takes seven women to barely beat down in an implausible ending 
ripped off directly from Woody Allen's Manhattan. 
	When you start off with a mediocre script (and trust me, I'm 
being kind here), then the best a production can hope for is 
mediocrity. This production, clumsily directed by Jim Newcomer, 
unfortunately can't even achieve that, and it doesn't only have 
the scipt to blame. Teamed with a drab-looking and downright 
dangerous set, designed by Arnie Webster; lighting, designed by 
Susan Humeston Ransom, that had almost as many holes as the 
script; and leads (Thomas Blackwood and Robin Ross) that would 
have been better suited for a puppet show, this script got all of 
the effort it deserved.
	As Jake, the writer-with-a-mom-fetish, Thomas Blackwood 
managed to throw away some of the usual funny lines that Simon had 
written into the pathetic script. When he wasn't jumping audience 
laughter and delivering lines at a barely audible intensity, he 
was running around the stage and mugging like a Central Park 
hoodlum. 
	As one of Jake's non-maternal love interests, Robin Ross 
looked absolutely awkward on stage. Upon her first entrance, she 
nearly fell from four steps off of one of the many the terribly 
built stairways because of her high heels. Things never got much 
brighter from there. Ms. Ross slurred lines and spoke at times too 
quietly and at others too fast to allow the audience any chance of 
understanding her. And the way that the audience could see her 
thinking out her blocking before she moved was absolutely 
unforgiveable. 
	Of course, forgiveness might possibly be offered considering 
the sheer amount of blocking. Mr. Newcomer's stage movement was 
erratic enough to require Dramamine for the audience. Someone 
should explain to this thirty-five year theatre veteran that wild 
and frenetic movement is not the same thing as dramatic movement. 
There were moments of tenderness that were delivered from half-a-
stage away, and moments of bonding that were choreographed like 
burlesque dance numbers. 
	Despite these complaints, and others that time and space 
don't permit, there were a few bright spots. Debra Jones, as 
Oedipus II's sister, was absolutely hilarious and dead-on in her 
portrayal. Not a gesture got past her, or an innuendo dropped. The 
ten scant minutes of worthy dramatic movement in the second act 
were the sole responsibility of Heidi Giovannoni Horchler, who 
portrayed Jake's 21 year old daughter. In this reasonably good 
dramatic moment, she has a touching reunion with her mother, dead 
for ten years, all courtesy of Jake's dangerously warped mind. The 
idea is clever, and Ms. Horchler makes full use of it. And, as 
always, Ellen Devine, as Jake's overworked therapist, did as much 
as her vast talents would allow to rise above the quagmire of this 
production, though she sometimes seemed uncomfortable with the 
blocking that forced her into the dual roles of actress and 
dancer. 
	To say that I was disappointed with this production by the 
Stagebrush community theatre, who tend to offer good musical 
productions, is an understatement. I would have been embarrassed 
for the theatre, if I hadn't been so outraged and disgusted by 
their choice of material.

Production Details:
Jake's Women by Neil Simon
The Stagebrush Theatre, Scottsdale
990-7405
September 8-23, 1995
$10-$12

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