The pleasantly cheesy Molotov Theatre Group presents the pleasantly cheesy Sticking Place in the dungeon-like back of the Fringe’s new New York Avenue digs. All hail the cheese! In the world of The Sticking Place it is satisfying, and erotic, to slice oneself open like a pig being made ready for roasting, but even more satisfying to slice open a local television anchorman. It is much the same in the real world.
The Molotov Theatre Group is a dedicated practitioner of the art of the Grand Guignol, so in the Guignol tradition the story is simply the coat rack upon which all the blood and gore is draped. The coat rack is this: Darren (Praem J. Phulwani) is a television anchorperson who is impossibly full of himself. Other people on his news team, however, will help remedy this problem in an excellently practical manner. In the meantime, Richard (Karthik Srinivasan) and Debbie (Laura Bloechl) are lovers bonded by the current erotic rage of mutual bloodletting, and Debbie’s best friend Jane (Pamela Sabella), who used to date Richard, can only seethe in jealously. Well, let me tell you, in Grand Guignol people only seethe for so long.
The real engine for this play are the special effects, some of which are comic (without getting too specific, I think Frank Purdue will have a regular customer in Molotov for a while) and some of which are spectacular. As grand as the props are (Tara Garwood is responsible) it is the actors who make them work, and for that the ubiquitous fight choreographer Casey Kaleba deserves credit. A swell David Lynch-like film ushers the show to us, and Spencer Grundler is responsible for it.
Grand Guignol puts special burdens on the actors to transcend caricature. Among the four actors, Srinivasan is the most successful, and indeed manages to make Richard a complex , multi-layered character.
What I’m about to say sounds like Grand Guignol, but, tragically, it is not: co-playwright McMahon was hit by a car earlier in the year and is now in a coma. I recommend that you consider making a contribution to the Braintree Rehabilitation Hospital (250 Pond Street, Braintree, MA 02184), specifying your contribution go to the Brain Injury Treatment Program. While I am certain your contribution will be tax-deductible, the program does not say so explicitly, so you may wish to call 781.348.2500 and ask.
- Running Time: 45 minutes
- Tickets: The Sticking Place
- Remaining Shows: Sat, July 12 at 9pm . Sun, July 13 at 6:30pm . Sat, Jul7 19 at 10pm . Thurs, July 24 at 8pm . Sat, July 26 at 3pm.
- Where: Fort Fringe, 607 New York Avenue NW (but enter on L Street, in the back
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