The actor’s nightmare of forgetting lines is common to most thespians — there’s even a play called “The Actor’s Nightmare” — but little has been said or written about a producer’s nightmare.
In “One Woman Show,” creator Mary-Laurence Bevington and her collaborators at Square Product Theatre explore the pitfalls of theatrical producing by employing the tried and true conceit of a show within a show.
Before they do so, we’re treated to a video montage of some notable local actors — Karen Slack, Philip Sneed, Mare Trevathan, GerRee Hinshaw — giving tongue-in-cheek advice to the lead character, Carol Anne, on how to put together a one-person show.
As the story begins, we’re told that midstream in the rehearsal process Carol Anne has left on a trip to India and must be replaced by another actor, Bobby (Bobby Dartt), who dons a wig and the requisite feminine persona.
The trick does not work. With the absence of Carol Anne we lose a key frame of reference on the process itself, which hampers the comedic arc and leaves us wondering whose story this is.
The video segments refer to Carol Anne, but she is absent; Bobby (as Carol Anne) provides the entertainment, but is unable to reference the advice that introduced the show; Kelly G. (Emily K. Harrison), the producer, provides detached commentary but is left holding the bag. The script begs for a handoff scene between Carol Anne and Kelly G., which transfers ownership from the titular subject to the eventual recipient.
Dartt’s send-up as Carol Anne is playful, and his piano playing and singing engaging, but they do not provide a focus for the plot. Harrison’s and Johnson’s performances get caught in the netherworld that often happens when actors play people who are attempting to act, but can’t — too much like what we would expect from a stage manager and producer, not actors playing these roles.
That the video vignettes represent the highlight of the production indicates a need for the script to revisit the original premise of the show. Indeed, the actor’s nightmare in this case is not that they have forgotten their lines, but that their lines are often melodramatic and wholly inadequate at driving the action.
Bob Bows also reviews theater for Variety, for KUVO/89.3 FM, and for his own website, . He can be reached at bbows@coloradodrama.com.
“One Woman Show” ** (out of four stars)
Comedy. Presented by Square Product Theatre at Wesley Chapel, 1290 Folsom St., Boulder. Conceived by Mary-Laurence Bevington. Directed by Luke List. Starring Bobby Dartt, Jessica J. Johnson, and Emily K. Harrison. Through May 8. 1 hour, 30 minutes with no intermission. 8 p.m. April 29-May 1, and May 6-8. $14.
