Herman's "Vamp" at Insurrection Theater Company

As old favorites go through their death throes, new theatre companies set about to take their place. In the long shot sweepstakes of theatrical longevity, there’s little guaranteeing that those who are around today will still be producing tomorrow. A new collective, Insurrection Theater Company, is making a strong initial bid to join the ranks of such mid-range luminaries with staying power as Stray Cat and Nearly Naked by producing the nearly world-premiere (some company in Portland beat ‘em) of Tucson playwright Ry Herman’s spunky and precociously irreverent girl-on-Goth comedy Vamp. I normally skip first productions, figuring that the wheat will separate from the chaff soon enough, but I was intrigued by the press and buzz, and since this company was bucking the trend and premiering when other options are sparse (I mean, c’mon, who opens in the middle of summer in Phoenix anyway?!?), I figured I’d drop in. I’m very glad I did.

The company is renting the North Valley Community Playhouse space, a reminder of other past and present strip mall companies like Desert Rose, Metro, and the old Desert Stages. A space like this requires a box set, and Vamp is the type of script that works well in one. The concept reads like a contestant in the Too-Clever-by-Half Fringe Festival (which I’ll admit is more to my taste), but it goes a lot further than being odd-for-odd’s-sake. Chloe (Carrie Benton) is an emotionally-scarred and blocked writer who barely survives as a hermit in her messy apartment working for a big Theater company as a reader of their unsolicited scripts. Having done this job, I can tell you that Herman is right on in describing the types of script that are driving Chloe’s already addled brain to distraction. This loner shares her apartment with common characters from those awful scripts including Spunky Old Gal (Pina Sbrocca), the wisdom and cliché-spouting elder, Jesus (Xchel Hernandez-Zendejas), a messianic meddler, an unseen Irish band and an equally unseen psycho-cat. Chloe takes a tentative step into the world by going to a club where she meets Angela (Erin Del Rosso), a Gothic astrophysicist clad in black leather with preternaturally pale skin. The two hit it off, but as each tentatively brings the other into their world, the baggage they open to the other contains odder and odder surprises.

Self-referential shows that have the lead actors addressing the audience and occasionally acknowledging that they’re pretty much reading from the script can often be much too precious for their own good. However, Herman has a clever purpose for this distancing that turns these initially unbelievable characters into endearing, three dimensional people. Even as lessons and puppet show parables are tossed in, the show ironically becomes more universal and the characters more empathetic with understandable motivations and reactions. One particular monologue at the beginning of the second act concerning the creation and existence of legendary creatures in modern life is especially touching and surprisingly relevant. There are several moments later in the second act when the playwright has the characters speak much more subtext than is necessary, but by this point the play has already proven itself and successfully captured the audience.

Directed by Dana Cianciotto, Insurrection’s production has rough edges but a strong amount of quality for a first offering. Some simple physical problems include lines lost to the loud-though-indispensible fans over the audience’s heads and a few moments of rushed pacing, but in terms of blocking, most pacing, and the choices most actors make, Cianciotto does a nice job of blending theatricality, earnestness, and just the appropriate tinge of amateurishness.

One problem for the production, though, is Benton’s performance as Chloe. Benton’s voice is at turns whiny and too soft to hear, and her delivery is rushed in what seems to be an attempt at quick. Without these problems, she would seem to be a natural fit for the role, as she embraces her character’s quirks and listens well to those with whom she shares the stage, but with them, she switches between mildly annoying and throttle-worthy. Del Rosso is perfect for Angela. She is creepily attractive, believably says some hefty scientific terminology in some pretty unscientific costuming, and aces that second act monologue. I couldn’t imagine another in the role.

Pina (she prefers a single name like Cher or Bono) is too young to be Spunky Old Gal, but she is quite funny and manages to keep a potentially annoying character likeable. Hernandez-Zendejas is unlike any Jesus most would expect, but he does an excellent job of presenting the character’s unshakeable naiveté and optimism with a flip of his wavy black hair.

What the hell, there’s little else going on now that those Phoenix Theater new play readings are done and the rest of the community is holding up until the snowbirds return. Drive on up to Cave Creek Road north of Cactus and catch this oddball offering. I can’t tell you whether this is the start of something great or another blip that will soon disappear from the community’s radar, but what Insurrection Theater Company is mounting right now is worth a bite.