For the love of Lunacy

What do you get when you cross a cigar-smoking alien with a can-can dancing elephant? Well, I don’t know either. But I think the play “For the Love of Lucy” tries to answer that question. At least I think it was trying to solve it, but in reality, I have no idea. 
Wednesday night, May 29, the Weston County Arts Council and the newly formed Expressive Arts League presented that play at the Crouch Auditorium in Newcastle. Ray Sheers wrote the comedy, and I genuinely have no idea what Cool-Aid he was drinking when he put pen to paper, but whatever the flavor was, you can count me in for a gulp or two. 
There are a lot of good things to say about this program, and I will get to some of those, but let me first get the bad out of the way. And no, I’m not a critic, nor do I ever want to be one. The bad was brought on by circumstances that were out of the control of everyone involved. Two of the cast members were unable to be in the play because of a sudden and personal family tragedy, which I won’t go into here. I believe the family is entitled to their privacy. However, Tom Voss and Jimmie Josephson, the directors of the play, filled in for those two parts. Having to fill in, spur of the moment as they did, had to be difficult, not only for them, but probably for the other actors as well. I believe it was a result of this that caused the play to not start on time. But having been in theatre myself, I realize there are a bunch of things that often cause plays and concerts to start late. And in truth, it was only by a few minutes. The only other thing I would like to see improved on was the sound. The sound design was great, and the timing was spot-on. But I think a shotgun microphone or two for the dialogue would come in most effectively. The sound effects were loud, drowned out some of the talking a couple of times, and there were other times where I wished that they used amplification, so that it would have been easier to hear what some of the actors were saying. That is not the fault of sound design, just a lack of needed equipment. Overall it wasn’t that much of a problem, and when you consider that this was the first play done by the league, I think it went better than anyone could expect.  Those are really nit picky, so I’m done picking nits. 
Having got that out of the way, I do wish to focus on the good. I genuinely feel that is part of what God has called me to do; find the good, point it out, and lift people. I hate tearing people down. That’s the purpose of our elected Congress; not me. So I hope you realize that was not my intent in this column in any way. After all, you can’t avoid all the tragedies life throws at you, and this cast took some lemons and made whiskey or something like it. That’s about the only way I can explain the experience. 
First and most obvious things first. I have no idea what the plot of this play was. I don’t think one member of the audience knew. And I have deep suspicions that even the cast, the crew, the directors, even the writer, had no better grasp of it than the audience did. I also think that it was also the point. It did borrow a lunatic flavor from the classic “I Love Lucy.” That energy kept the pace of the one-act play going from start to finish at break-neck speed. Allow me to give you just a sample of that mania. The most natural character, who was just dumped into a house of crazies due to a car accident and eventually an elephant sitting on her car (so she was just stuck there growing more crazy, as if the insanity of the other players was contagious) was a woman named (and I am not making this up) Vita Rottenswapper. She didn’t remain normal for very long. Between her character, played by Kaylie White, and that of Pupinski, played by Austen Kenney, you got the best chemistry. Watching Pupinski drive Rottenswapper batty was a thing of twisted beauty, and there were times you were laughing so continuously you barely had time to breathe. Although I do not think Rottenswapper agrees that this was a good thing, that’s just too bad. It was a delight to watch her turn to the dark side, and Kaylie and Austen soon became the reason I would lean forward and really pay attention.  They were that fun to watch. 
The truth is that the chemistry between all the actors was positive and in many cases, exceptional. The audience went on a masterstroke ride of laughs, of twists and turns to the point of bewilderment. About 10 minutes into the story, and I use that term lightly, you didn’t even try to keep it all together in your head. You would have had more success trying to follow the antics of Bean or Robin Williams. Making sense of this frolic would have just been a waste of time. You watched the characters who when they heard the word “Never” break out into an oddball can-can dance, then go into a diatribe about alien abduction. You witnessed Desmond Boa, played by Brandon Mespelt, trying to find a place to keep a pet elephant, to Pupinski trying to find a cheap cigar and getting everything mixed up in his head in the process. There was just no way to make sense of any of this. Like many of the shenanigans that Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz got themselves into, you were just left watching and wondering, “How in the world did we get here?” And it was so fun. That, above everything else, WAS the point. 
The acting was strong and purposefully over the top, much like a melodrama, which only added to the hilarity. Some of these actors also had terrific and already firm stage presence. With no logical flow from one crazy-making idea to the next, I have no idea how they even memorized their lines, much less deliver them with such certainty. The cast members included Avery Alishouse, Cadence Larson, Brandon Mespelt, Shelby Davis, Kaylie White, Alexcya Hopper, Austen Kenney, Kenzee Allard, and Adam Quinton, with Jimmie Josephson and Tom Voss filling in. Duncan Cox was in charge of the sound and lighting, and Duncan, you did just fine. Well done, everybody. 
I wish to thank the entire cast and crew for a half-baked good time. You not only reminded me that the arts are a necessary part of living a well-balanced life (I can’t believe I’m using ‘well-balanced’ in connection with this play) filled with quality and (ahem) culture, but you reminded me that I am not the only goofy and demented person in the world. Will I go to another production put on by the Expressive Arts League? The single word answer I can give to that question is, “Never.” (Enter the can-can) Sorry, I couldn’t resist.