Charles Mee’s ‘Big Love’ @ Hip Pocket Theatre
Photos by Shannon Atkinson Cahoone; sign by artist Carlos Guerrero
—Jan Farrington
An entire population of theater traditions (Greek, Shakespeare, Shaw, Punch & Judy) converges on Hip Pocket Theatre’s production of playwright Charles Mee’s Big Love, a playful and cheerfully bloody tale of runaway brides and bullying grooms—maybe set in ancient Greece (it’s loosely based on Aeschylus’ The Suppliant Maidens), but with pop culture and music references that give us other ideas.
Mee, who cut his playwrighting teeth on the wild Off-Off-Broadway scene of the early 1960s (Cafe Cino, La MaMa, et al.), had a young family to support, and moved back to the Chicago area to “make a living” as an editor for a consumer health publisher. (By coincidence, just a few years before I went to work for a rival Chicago publisher.)
It was the 1980s before Mee took up writing plays again—but with his sense of whimsy and humor still popping. First Love, True Love, and Big Love are part of a string of Mee plays from the ‘80s on through the millennium that pull on Greek tragedies for the core of a story…which he then puts through an absurdist shredder to end up with something that’s more Mee than them.
Imaginative director Emily Scott Banks goes for max energy and playfulness from her big cast (sooo many unhappy couples!), but gives due weight to some of the brides’ feminist outrage over forced engagements to their sketchy Egyptian cousins. (Why do they all need brides at the same time? Does it look better for a court case coming up?) The ladies have sailed away from their royal father to get away, but when they land on an island, distant relative “Uncle” Piero (cool, martini-in-hand James Warila) frets that taking them in will create diplomatic headaches. His mother Bella (warm and full-of-advice Melinda Wood Allen) has thirteen sons (only a few worth spit, acc to her) and would welcome a daisy-chain of daughters. Right away, her favorite son Giuliano (Tyler Dorney) brings out his Barbie and Ken, eager to yak it up with the new girls in town.
The trio of brides at the center of the story are close, but not clones. Lydia (Gabriela Yarbrough) is gentle and cautious, but has surprisingly strong views she doesn’t change easily. Flighty, flirty Olympia (Lauren Riley) is (apologies to Cole Porter) “a girl mad to marry”—and to make that happen, she’ll change her plans ten times a day. Passionate, tough-as-nails Thyona (Amanda Reyes) claims she’s more than her “I hare men” reputation (oops, there’s Cole again)…but she’s always a heartbeat away from a feminist rant (well-deserved, given the era—but it gets her plenty of pushback).
The grooms, newly landed on the island (a hilarious entry), are a mixed bag of types. Constantine (Ron Fernandez) leads the pack, bombastic and bossy. Of course he has his eyes on the fierce Thyona. Hunky Oed (Cameron Martinez) is all about the sleek physique; his muscles twitch at Olympia from across the stage. And Nikos (Ash Vance) is a longtime friend of Lydia—and both are happy to dream of friendship turning to love. Can this rom-com survive what’s to come?
And let’s not forget the random (and happiest) couple of the piece: Eleanor (Aaron Knowles Dias) and Leo (Justin Rhodes) are a sexy young married couple (they fit into the family circle somewhere, but don’t ask) whose passion never flags. Eleanor joyfully introduces the almost-brides to the mechanics of various sex practices and positions—most memorably, a sort of wheelbarrow carry that allows deep penetration…perhaps, she notes in a low voice, “the deepest.” Whew. I never read that in Edith Hamilton.
How does it all work out? There are songs and dances, rappelling and repelling, knives and doll kisses and lots of lacy ruffles. The performances are great fun. The energy goes on for years. And the last scene may remind you of the end celebration of Much Ado—madly combined with the death scene of Hamlet. It’s murder…but it’s fun.
(Set design by Lake Simons; costumes by Susan Austin; sound by David Lanza and lighting from Nikki DeShea Smith; fight captain, Ash Vance.)
WHEN: September 6-29, 2024
WHERE: 1950 Silver Creek Road, Fort Worth
WEB: hippocket.org
