‘Housewife ’52’ A Toe Tapping Indictment Of Testosterone Tyranny

By Ernest Kearney — Remove the focus of the hit series Mad Men away from the masculine realm of Madison Avenue, fix it onto the bleak domestic field of their feminine “better halves,” insert inspired songs, furnish superb choreography and Voila!: You’d have Housewife ’52.


In recreating— for those of us who suffered through the stagnation of the Eisenhower Era— and displaying it to others who were spared it, by showing how far we have progressed, John Wuchte and his partner Michael Teoli have given us all a reason to celebrate.


At the start of this show four women emerge from beneath burial mounds of laundry, a fitting image of their “domestic bliss.” All neighbors in a suburban cul-de-sac, we are told by one that cul-de-sac is French for “dead end.”


We are witness to the struggles of these women as they try to be more than reflections of their husband’s needs, victims of their husband’s deceptions, and prisoners of the limitation society forces them to abide by.


A romantic ballad with a press shirt, a paean to the joys of Tupperware all convey a time when living room furniture in America was encased in plastic and Americans might have well been too.
The standout performances by all involved – Dagney Kerr, Olivia Echegaray, Danika Masi, Quincey Lou Huerter, Charlie Manoukian, Alexander Aguirre and Daniel Amerman, enhanced by Joyce Hutter’s puppet designs and a superlative tribal-like choreography, all contribute to a show that is both inspired and evoking.
Wuchte, Teoli and crew deserve —

Platinum Medal

a PLATINUM MEDAL
for their achievement – and then some!

***

Housewife ’52

plays during Hollywood Fringe Festival 2022

VENUE:

The Broadwater (Main Stage)
1076 Lillian Way

SCHEDULE:

Friday June 10 2022, 9:30 PM

Sunday June 12 2022, 3:30 PM

Wednesday June 15 2022, 6:30 PM

Friday June 17 2022, 10:30 PM

Wednesday June 22 2022, 9:30 PM

Saturday June 25 2022, 4:30 PM

***

For Additional Information:

Hollywood Fringe Project 6841

Learn More at kickboomtheater.com

Written by

An award-winning L.A. playwright and rabble-rouser of note who has hoisted glasses with Orson Welles, been arrested on three continents and once beat up Charlie Manson. His first play, "Among the Vipers" was a semi-finalist in the Julie Harris Playwriting Competition and was featured in the Carnegie-Mellon Showcase of New Plays. It was produced at the NPT Theater in Ashland, Oregon and Los Angeles’ celebrated Odyssey Ensemble Theatre. His following play, “The Little Boy Who Loved Monsters” was produced at The Hollywood Actors Theater, where he earned praise from the Los Angeles Times for his “…inordinately creative writing.” The play went on to numerous other productions including Berlin’s The Black Theatre under the direction of Rainer Fassbinder who wrote in his program notes of Kearney, “He is a skilled playwright, but more importantly he is a dangerous one.” Ernest Kearney has worked as literary manager or as dramaturge for among others The Hudson Theater Guild, Nova Diem and the Odyssey Ensemble Theatre, where he still serves on the play selection committee. He has been the recipient of two Dramalogue Awards and a finalist or semi-finalist, three times, in the Julie Harris Playwriting Competition. His work has been performed by Michael Dunn, Sandra Tsing Loh, Jack Colvin and Billy Bob Thornton, and to date, either as playwright or director, he has upwards of a hundred and thirty productions under his belt, including a few at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater as puppeteer. Kearney remains focused on his writing, as well as living happily ever after with his lovely wife Marlene. His stage reviews and social essays can be found at TheTVolution.com and workingauthor.com. Follow him on Facebook.

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