For Muffs, McDonalds, and What it is to Love Theatre

Innovative and bold, wickedly funny, liberally studded with stellar talent; “Muffed” is everything there is to love about local theater. This is the sort of production that made Chicago the king of storefront theater, and The Factory Theatre a shining star in Chicago’s crown.

Muffed is slaying before you even get to the venue. Start with the title. This is crucial. Once you ‘get’ the title of this play you are beginning to enter the right mindset. The title is not “Muffed”; it will become obvious why shorthand is needed. Warning: no matter what the title tells you, do not be misled – “Muffed” is a full show of an original script by playwright Zack Peercy and directed by Kayla Menz, jointly produced  by the Factory Theater and Unheard of Company.

Ready?  The title: “The Meaningful Action Theatre Presents a Workshop Reading of ‘Muffed: A Recounting of Farmington, Maine’s 43^rd Annual Chester Greenwood Day Devised by the Members of the Meaningful Action Theatre Company and Produced by David New”. That’s the title. Get it? That is the title of this play, of this full production, this production that is full to bursting with everything we theater-lovers love about theater. As ridiculously long as this title is, that is how quick, and witty, and  – alive – this production is. As confusing as it is to title a play, in part, a ‘Workshop Reading’, that is how delightfully surprising and daring “Muffed” is. And all of that is why we will be using “Muffed” instead of the full title, throughout.

Second – This. Script. Peercy says his work is ‘all about people saying ‘I’m sorry and I love you’, and Muffed is undeniably a love letter to Theatre, and to those who love her. This is a script to be poured all over the crispiest buttery-est crust of your choosing. A script to spread across the sky and tell your fortune; to rake up into a pile of brilliantly colored moments and fall into them, and then do it all again and again. The show is clever and fast-paced, and the company hits every shot with sparkling energy. The play has moments of real vulnerability, and the actors dive into those depths. The bits build easily and reach comic climaxes that are natural and uncontrived. Under Menz’s deft direction all of the tiny details coalesce into a whole that is greater than the sum of its artfully designed parts.

Peercy’s ’I love you’ is throughout – in all the all the ‘inside’ jokes poking at performance tropes, in the pride of the company members and the drive of the ‘Company Leader’. The ‘I love you’ is the declaration that you fight for what you believe in, that you fight for the magical, necessary experience that is theater. The ‘I’m sorry’ is sprinkled into the laughs: quick changes because there are too many roles to cover, the pay (or lack thereof), the declaration that we who love Theatre have to fight for her survival.

Muffed is a mockumentary play-within-a-play. In the frigid north of Maine, our intrepid Company sets out to document the 43^rd celebration of Chester Greenwood Day, whose invention, the humble ear muff, is far better known than he. The Company captures the chaos of a festival rapidly sliding sideways while navigating toxic torts, family feuds and a long-time resident’s guest appearance in search of revenge – or at least a holiday of her own. While the Company members devise this workshop reading they bumble amusingly through their own personal and professional dramas. Along the way we get Shakespearean personalities, seances, mysteriously missing muffs, and hard-hitting journalism about the culinary offerings of Farmington, Maine.

Prudes and parents beware: as one might expect from a comedy about muffs, there are So. Many. Vagina Jokes. The dialogue, the characters, and don’t miss the title cards for each scene. This show might need at least a PG-13 rating – but remember It isn’t playwright’s fault if your kid gets the jokes!

The presentation is spot-on portraying a ‘workshop reading’ with minimal, evocative costume pieces for the distinct characters, and a few multi-use pieces of mostly bare furniture. (Though the lighting and sound are undoubtably full-production level, perfectly focusing key details.)

The costume quick changes happen on stage, and climax in a ludicrously funny sequence absolutely nailed by Jaycey Carlson, as her Company Member 6 leaps between the roles of Sue Tinney, a local muff-stravaganza manager, and Dan Lombard who just needs any icy plunge to be secure in love. Carlson shifts easily between Sue’s explosive method of crisis management and Dan’s genuine, human struggles. Company Member 6 has moments pivotal to advancing the troupe’s internal storyline and Carlson gives it just the right combination of eye-rolling and machinations.

There are not enough superlatives to shower over Reginald Hemphill, especially in his role as Company Leader, a vibrant Master of Ceremonies who is pushed to the limits trying to herd the Company into completing the workshop reading. Anyone who has ever found themselves thrust into management will find his struggles painfully funny. It takes a special skill to embody larger-than-life characters believably, and Hemphill rules here, both as the showman Company Leader and the tart Wendy Simmons. He is a talent to watch.

If you have a delicate constitution Josh Philoon’s hysterical and viscerally nauseating portrayal of Officer Brett Crum might have you gagging through your laughter. Alternately, Philoon is angrily, earnestly, full of attitude as Company Member 4, a rebel very much dedicated to a cause. As Gary Lombard Philoon is a sweet, harried husband – until he stops the world in an unexpected, authentically vulnerable moment that is deeply moving and horribly timely. He brings an effortless reality to Member 4 and Gary that stands out in this high-voltage comedy and will leave you wanting more.

Asa Wallace is delightful as Willy DuChamp, the local expert on all things muff. Willy just can’t get enough of the Farmington muffs; fuzzy muffs, cozy muffs, giant muffs you could fit a car inside. Willy is the true-believer in the muff-stravaganza that is Chester Greenwood Day; Wallace carries off the obsession with ease, and delivers the flood of vagina jokes with the perfect deadpan.

Appropriately for a Grand Dame, Lady Nordica as performed by Liz Falstrerau, steals the show with her singular, amazing scene. Falstreau’s Company Member 8 is wonderfully fumbling and eager as the stand-in desperate to break in. With every member on stage almost the entire show there is too much happening to catch everything – but keep your eye on Falstreau for some stellar background moments.

If you didn’t get to any Shakespeare in the park this season never fear, Muffed delivers via Deb in Accounting and the tragedy that is a phone call to customer service. Adelaide Corbo gives us the histrionic accountant, who might not be able to escape the Queen’s English. Deb’s grandeur peaks when Corbo’s physicality is as extravagant as Deb’s verbosity. In perhaps the most extreme range of characters, Corbo also delivers spot-on glimpses of a legitimately creepy local guy.

For the press event Caitlin Dooks stepped into a central role. She goth-rocks as ghost-hunter Tara Meiser, and brought Company Member 3 to life as the serious theatrical journalist with a series of ‘deep’ yet endearing introspectives . . . mostly at McDonalds.

If theater inside jokes are Peercy’s love language, Karly Solon gets the best one in a very special moment of Company Member 2’s career. You’ll know it when you see it.

This play is a true ensemble piece, and the members mesh seamlessly, build off each other splendidly, and effortlessly present a close-knit company of unique personalities. As part of its play-within-a-play, Muffed doesn’t break the fourth wall, it transforms it. Just as the actors portray the Company Members of The Meaningful Action Theater Company, we are pressed into service as the Company’s workshop audience. We are acknowledged, courted, privy to asides and disputes and all manner of behind-the-scenes goings-on. Muffed ensures we know that we are the beloved family and friends, the treasured loyal patrons, of the earnest Company.

Go to The Factory Theatre, open the love letter that is Muffed, and be reminded of all the reasons you, too, are in love with Theatre.

Highly Recommend.

Reviewed by Soleil Rodrigue

“The Meaningful Action Theatre Presents a Workshop Reading of ‘Muffed: A Recounting of Farmington, Maine’s 43^rd Annual Chester Greenwood Day Devised by the Members of the Meaningful Action Theatre Company and Produced by David New” runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30PM, Sundays at 3PM through September 20, All shows at The Factory Theater, 1623 W. Howard St., Chicago.

Tickets are $30 and may be purchased online at TheFactoryTheater.com or by emailing boxoffice@thefactorytheater.com

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com

The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree

Refracted Light

More and more, individuals of all ages are recognizing when they finally need some emotional help. They’re not ashamed to seek assistance after being diagnosed with mental health issues. In addition to talking with a therapist, medication is often prescribed for a patient. However, there are sometimes negative side effects that cancel the positive power of the drugs. This is one of the problems that playwright Dana Hall deals with in her new play, now being given a respectable world premiere at Eclectic Full Contact Theatre. But there are other complications within this drama and we soon discover that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.