Live arts, lively discussion

REVIEW: Elemental Theatre

Elemental Theatre Collective's three-play program entitled The Father, the Son and The Holy Go.Go specialized in well-rounded plots woven together by echoing themes. Making fluid transitions between "chillin'" and acting, the actors keep the program rolling through the interstices with audience singalongs accompanied on guitar by the Collective's Dave Rabinow and D'Arcy Dersham. The first half of the program presents two flash plays about couples, The Cabin (by George Brandt) and RedPop (by Alexander Platt), and most striking about these two plays is their tight development. Even as each play includes echoes from the other in its dialogue – for example, one partner in each couple is in awe of the trees; the other partner, not so much -- the plays accelerate very consistently toward a kind of punch line. Easily subtitled "The Secret Life of Women," both plays take place at the life-changing crossroads of early pregnancy -- which apparently comes in a ménage-a-trios package and calls for an exorcism of secrets. For these couples, at least, the moment is filled with relationship turmoil, doubts, and ghosts from the past.

[Seigh, Platt]

Humorous and engaging, all the plays feature particularly convincing acting. Kelley Seigh gives a well-grounded performance as Molly, the woman in RedPop who is not sure she wants to have her baby. In one scene Seigh pulls off some incredible timing as she carries on two conversations at once, letting lines with double entendre fall ambiguously between the two men talking at her. This play also features a fun fight scene and some death throes verite by Platt.

After another music-filled intermission, the program brings out David Rabinow's longer play, Two of Us. This play nicely integrates Beatles music to help capture the essence of an era that seems to represent openness, optimistic experimentation and "sweetness." More episodic than the first plays as it follows the intermittent partnership of two women, Two of Us pulls the lens back on a wider shot of life. While it includes the social backdrop these women represent and interact with, it also captures a stage of life when backward reflection tries to sum up all the paths taken. Melissa Bowler as the music-loving feel-good girl Skeeter, and D'Arcy Dersham (in her second role of the evening) as the savvy, jaded cabin-woman contrast nicely and make an appealing couple. And they execute some cute choreography to bits of Beatles tunes. Their chemistry carries us through the time jumps and mood shifts of their bittersweet romance like a well-put together record album. This year's Go.Go offers a light but tight night at the theater.