By Ernest Kearney — Right from the start there are flashes of cleverness in Tourrorists, a comedy based on the January 6th attack on the nation’s capital.
It begins with the vetting of the audience to find those who do not wish to participate in the show’s immersive aspects. Those who wish to remain unmolested are given a large paper medallion to wear with the cartoon figure of a smiling “snowflake.”
The play opens with an aide being trapped in Nancy Pelosi’s office, by a motley gang of protestors, and who out of self preservation passes himself off as a Capitol tour guide.
As this tour progresses they pass through the capitol’s National Statuary Hall. Here cheap action figures are held aloft to represent the marbled personalities housed there, like Darth Vader for Jefferson Davis.
Among the “tourrorists” is Marty, who is only there to be with his wife a MAGA patriot who has swallowed the “Big Lie.” Marty, who is a bit of a history junkie, offers a running commentary that points out the utter stupidity of the mouth breathers, knuckle draggers and others that fill the ranks of the “deplorables.”
For example, when a Teenage Ninja Turtles’ blanket is used to denote the familiar “Stars and Bars” banner most people believe was the flag of the south during the Civil War, Marty is quick to point out that it wasn’t the flag of the Confederacy, only the Battle flag of the Army of Tennessee.
And when he laments that Americans are so ignorant about their history his wife quips, “We can fake history, we don’t need to learn it.”
Unfortunately, these sparks of cleverness never manage to flare up into a firestorm of fun.
I’m finding a depressing number of shows in this Fringe that smack of having been thrown together without much thought or deliberation. This is one. Writer Emma Gardner took a strong concept and squandered it. Under Ben Wendel’s direction, I bet rehearsals were a blast, but it doesn’t seem much work was done.
All of which is a great pity.
A well thought-out, well-crafted farce about that madness known as the “Trump Presidency” and the dark events of January 6th is precisely the tonic this country so desperately needs.
But to quote Sid Caesar, “You gotta take comedy very serious.”
A BRONZE MEDAL…barely.
Tourrorists
is playing during Hollywood Fringe Festival 2022
AT
Asylum @ Stephanie Feury Studio Theatre
5636 Melrose Ave
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SCHEDULE
June 5 – SOLD OUT
June 11 – SOLD OUT
June 19 – SOLD OUT
June 26 – SOLD OUT
New dates added:
June 19 (late show)
June 25 (matinee)
For Additional Informationa and Tickets
www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/7581
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