No sympathy for the devil
OUT OF THE FLAMES
Written by David Marken
Directed by Natasha Matallana
Opening Night Entertainment (www.outoftheflamestheplay.com)
Midtown International Theatre Festival (www.midtownfestival.org)
Where Eagles Dare Theatre,
Equity Showcase (through August 5th)
Review by Michael D. Jackson
Presumably, we are to embrace
the character of the Devil, known in Out
of the Flames as Delcio (Daniel
Kennedy), as misunderstood––he just wants to be loved. Not unlike the
famous Prince Sirki from Death Takes a
Holiday, who takes over a human body to find out what it feels like to be
mortal and fall in love, Delcio immediately leaps over courtship to propose
marriage to his first love, Jessenia (Devin
Dunne Cannon). Her father (Ken
Scudder) doesn’t like the boy––he intuitively believes him to be the Devil.
Wanting to do right by his future wife, Delcio acquires employment with
McKenzie (Alan Altschuler), a
cantankerous villain. At McKenzie’s abode are two servants, Martiana (Katie Ritz) and Randolf (Geoffrey Parrish). After Jessenia’s
father forbids her to marry Delcio, the young Devil begins to pay attention to
Martiana, because, well, she’s available. Poor Randolf, who hasn’t the guts to
express his true feelings, suffers as Martiana ignores him for Delcio. Many
other things happen in this haphazard plot, which includes the tragic demise of
nearly everyone, but frankly, it is all too convoluted to clearly follow. Most
importantly, it is too convoluted to find the point of it at all.
Told through numerous
blackout scenes in an episodic style, this spectacularly tedious ninety minute
exhibition, playing as one part nineteenth century melodrama and one part faux
Greek Tragedy, couldn’t pin itself down to a single style. McKenzie, the
villain, lumbers around like Boris Karloff and has such dreadful drivel to
speak that he might finish the job by laughing maniacally and twisting a
mustache. Inconsistency in the writing is blatant as characters speak in
Elizabethan English, throwing in “My Lords” here and there, only to turn around
and utter modern sayings like “...it’s not in the cards.” None of this is part of a concept. This is
not intended to be a comedy or a send-up of a genre. No, this is supposed to be
a serious play with characters to care about. The audience is supposed to be
sad that the Devil doesn’t get the girl before slipping down into the
underworld again. Moreover, the audience is supposed to be illuminated about
their own lives somehow. Just exactly what we are supposed to learn was never
made clear, but it is evident that no matter how hard he tries to do right, the
poor Devil just can’t get ahead and so he must go back to where he came from.
Through all the nonsense, in
between a string of undeveloped scenes linked by haunted house sound effects,
emerges the sturdy Kennedy as the forlorn Devil, committing one hundred percent
and good diction to putting the play over. He can’t begin to make up for the
play’s shortcomings, however, even with help from his two ladies, Cannon and
Ritz, who deliver their material as if they believed it. Luke Tudball does admirably well as the Devil’s confidant, Basem,
though the role is an intrusion for the most part. Parrish is likable as
Randolf, and despite his general angst, he emerges as the only character to
possess any joy, which has more to do with Parrish’s personality than the
writing of his character.
Director Natasha Matallana
has her work cut out for her, but her meddling only made the problems inherent
in the play pronounced. The possibility did exist for Matallana to find ways of
unifying the production, but only the most basic job of getting the play on its
feet seems to have taken place. Further, ridiculousness such as the Devil
turning away from Jessenia while she is talking to him so that he can pull out
a ring to let the audience know that marriage is on his mind, only to secretly
slip it back into his pocket to delay the proposal, could have been discarded.
Business like this went out one hundred years ago, along with heroines not
being able to pay the rent. The entire enterprise was thoughtless, inconsistent
and an assault to theatre art. Back to the drawing board!
Writing: 0
Directing: 0
Acting: 1
Sets: 0
Costumes: 1
Lighting/Sound: 1
Copyright 2007 Michael D. Jackson
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