File this one under “tough love.”
John Lennon’s Gargoyle, the third production by the newish Working
Theatre Collective, poses an interesting problem. The acting ranges
from tolerable to excellent. The young cast is likeable and the earnest
good intentions are palpable, if not a little cloying (the company’s
mission statement—”through working to produce art we find the
heart of living”—is on the eye-rolling end of sincere). And while
the show’s direction and blocking are quite literally
clumsy—we’re talking backs to the audience and props breaking
mid-scene—vitality and talent are evident on this stage,
particularly from actors Mitchell Fennimore and Noelle Eaton. The
company’s future plans, too, are ambitious, including a show in which
audience members will bike to various locations to watch the story
unfold. (While this concept will understandably activate the
“Portland’s Weird Enough” gag reflex in some people, I’m excited about
a chance to get out of the uncomfortable folding chairs and into a
site-specific, experiential piece that at least attempts to engage with
the city at large.)
This is a bright ensemble with big ideas and enough hipster cachet
to bring in that most elusive of theater audiences: The Young. But even
if The Young aren’t regular theatergoers, they still can’t be expected
to fall for the writing-workshop tricks of Bryan Willis’ irredeemably
awful script. Based on Voltaire’s Candide, John Lennon’s
Gargoyle is about an over-entitled young man (Matt Hopkins) who
determinedly believes that everything happens for a reason. This belief
system is tested by a series of urban legend-based mishaps—when
he cheats on his wife by picking up a woman at a bar, he wakes up in a
kiddie pool full of ice to find that the woman is gone and so are his
kidneys. As the man’s life unravels, the script throws in an Elvis
impersonator, hackneyed poetry, a few embarrassing Beatles references,
and an ending that’s second only to “and then I woke up” in terms of
sheer narrative laziness.
If this company continues to squander their potential on material
this unsophisticated, they’re just going to reinforce the reasons young
people don’t go to the theater: Namely, that it seems out of touch and
kinda dorky. They have the potential to do better, and I hope they
do.