Renegade Theatre Experiment presents irreverent 'Goner'
The
Renegade Theatre Experiment hit its stride with the
West Coast premiere of Brian Parks' wacky and completely
off-the-wall nonsense, titled "Goner." Irreverent
and impossible, this production, presenting dark,
wry, edgy humor, is akin to an over-caffeinated escapee
from the local loony bin. This no-intermission offering
is satire at its best.
Directed
by Peter Canavese, the Experiment crowd runs wild
where nothing is sacred, serious or struck by the
stench of reality. Guaranteed to offer an offense
if you want it, sardonic wit is whipped out against
the establishment, the medical profession, the races
and logic. This production is so tongue-in-cheek,
it would make Dizzy Gillespie proud.
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The
President of the United States is rushed
to a hospital after being hit in the head
by an assasin's bullet, but it is the
wrong hospital with the worst doctors
in 'Goner' by Renegade Theatre Experiment.
Photo
by June Cuaresma.
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The
premise is dark. The president of the United States
is the victim of an assassination attempt. The only
mistake is taking him to the hospital where the chief
doctor practices post-modern medicine. He's watched
over by two FBI agents who need watching themselves,
and is tended by a medical staff suffering from delightful
distractions.
Heavy
in wit, awash in "R" language delivery, "Goner" is
delicious in presentation. Central to the set is one
gurney. Wait! That's the entire set. With clever use
of lighting, the stage is enlarged to include some
of the most outrageous performances.
Chris
Tann (Dr. Wyandotte) runs the hospital with flair.
He's frenetic in action and likes to breath helium
when discussing a diagnosis with a patient. Lauri
Smith (Dr. Southgate) is his preoccupied brain surgeon,
who loves playing the glockenspiel and is marketing
ChemoTherapy Barbie for their younger patients. Evangeline
Maynard plays Wixom Wyandotte who dreams of leaving
the basement laboratory where stool diagnosis is her
assignment. Gabriel A. Ross offers a manic and excited
Dr. Schermerhorn, who falls in love with Wixom. Politics
is attended to by Bill Ereneta (President Novi) and
Brian Murphy and Sarah Almazol (agents Melvin Dale
and Hazel Park).
The
humor is apolitical; the comedy is cutting, with only
a whiff of sanity. The pace is chaotic and sharp and
oddly, quite friendly.
"Goner"
is playing at the Renegade Theatre Experiment, Benson
Theatre, Bellarmine College Preparatory, 895 Emory
Avenue, San Jose. Call 351-4440 for more information.
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W.
Fred Crow is a local music director
and frequent attendee of
the arts. Contact him atwfredcrow@yahoo.com .
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