Klub
There’s only one way in and no way out. This is the paradox of the performer’s life realized inside a rabbit hole of an existential cabaret cast by a maniacal clown.
Blood, sweat, and tears amounts to shit here, or cannibalism. In a performance for their lives and freedom, it is winner take all in this Jean Paul Sartean deal or no deal of their careers. Ten actors desperately flatter themselves only to discover they aren’t so talented after all. They seek approval from a slave-driving director that issues random “points” for each actor’s self-sacrificing moment in the spotlight.
It is their vapidity that takes center stage with ghoulish absurdity. A bubblehead blonde uses a power drill to fix her nose and deflate the silicone floatation devices of her breasts. A mime unsuccessfully attempts suicide in her testament to life as “pain is agony, agony is pain.” Two brothers pull shtick out of their traveling trunk and more than a few skeletons from their sordid past. A psychic predicts after the fact, a 40-year-old Annie clings to vain optimism, and a former child star is literally washed out from the implanted blowhole in his back.
If it sounds too crazy for even the most irreverent sensibilities, don’t worry it is. But this revival commits to the zaniness with such unabashed verve that what would ordinarily qualify as bad taste becomes a deliciously sinister spectacle for sadists, and would-be directors, casting directors, and agents – which really amounts to the same thing. For everyone else, it is a fantastic journey into the Inferno of the dramatis personae.
Director Michael Schlitt underscores Mitch Watson’s (also performing as the cynical, gun-toting French clown Jean Claude Liebermenchausen) bizarre play with form and clarity. It is organized chaos at its finest. The unrelenting action plays well in the space, using the aisles and upstage stairwell to create a circuitous labyrinth of dead ends. The set and lighting design by Francois-Pierre Couture backdrops the lunacy with exquisite detail and an atmosphere that can be likened to the reputed “Tavern of Hell” in the Parisian red-light district of Moulin Rouge. Portraits of stars that “made it” like Mr. T, Angela Lansbury, and of course who could forget the famous Mr. Ed, hang high on the walls like idolized golden calves. If the action is too much to stomach, there is always something oddly marvelous to look at.
The ensemble cast is first-rate. Exaggerating their over-the-top roles to sheer caricature might be otherwise grating, but the Gang grounds their characters with authenticity, making the distortion of their roles even more disturbing. Veteran Gang members Evie Peck as titillating Betty Shaeffer and Nathan Kornelis as child TV star of Aqua Boy give no holds barred performances, utilizing their physicality for some outrageous gags. Beth Tapper as an adult Little Orphan Annie hits the perfect pitch and is hilarious in the biting musical numbers.
Stand out songs by David Arnott such as “Limit Yourself” and “Ernest Borgnine: A Character Actor’s Life” amuse with its anecdotal stabs at the craft.
Andy Warhol predicted, “That in the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.” For these actors, their fame is a nefarious curse stuck on the boards of an eternal show where the only thing that changes is the audience.
KLÜB
The Actor’s Gang
The Ivy Substation
9070 Venice Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
Runs through July 19
Thurs & Fri at 8pm
Sat at 8pm & 10:30pm
PH: 310-838-4264
www.theactorsgang.com