by Charlsie-Kern Kruger
Let me start by saying that “Collective Rage” is hands down (so to speak) one of the most hysterical performances I have ever seen in a theatre. It is outrageous, in your face, poetic, touching, obscene, and laugh-until-you-cry hilarious. The dialogue is extraordinary: natural yet poetic, full of repetitions, pregnant pauses, unexpected diversions, and delectable divertissement. Theatrical writing doesn’t get much better than this.
To get right to the heart of the matter: The play could well have been titled “Pussies!” although it has little in common with Broadway’s “Cats!”
In case you miss the point, one enters the theatre through a, um, fabric sculpture of a labia, narrow enough to brush against you as you squeeze past. The playwright aims to make sure you know what you’re getting into.
Perhaps it will help the reader to understand what I’m talking about if I now share the FULL title of the play, too long for the marquee. It is:
Collective Rage: A
Play In 5 Betties; In
Essence A Queer And
Occasionally Hazardous
Exploration; Do You
Remember When You Were
In Middle School And You
Read About Shackleton
And How He Explored The
Antarctic?; Imagine The
Antarctic As A Pussy And
It’s Sort Of Like That.
Well, perhaps that doesn’t help much, but it should give you an idea of the playwright’s distinctive aesthetic.
Bettie, the epitome of an Upper East Side Desperate Housewife, decides to throw a dinner party. Why? Because, she says in an opening monologue: “I Am Very Very Concerned About The State of Things. … There is currently nothing in the whole world that makes me feel better. So I decided to throw a Dinner Party.”
The party that follows, to reach she invites four other Betties, is disastrously awkward. And then it takes a swing into the surreal as Betty #3, a very femme lesbian, initiates conversation with the following: “The first time I fucked a girl I was like BINGO! I WON! I WON THE FUCKING LOTTERY! I was all up in that shit! I was like, girl, come here you put your mouth here to the left! to the right! It was the Wild West up there! I was like a pro-wrestler and a cowboy and also like an astronaut like the Neil fuckin’ Armstrong of the bedroom.”
To which Betty #1 gingerly replies: “That’s not good conversation for a dinner party.”
“No?” says Better #3.
If you are laughing, this play is for you. If you’re appalled, well, you might want to give it a pass because this is only the beginning.
“Collective Rage” is spectacularly well performed by actors Nicole Odell, Atosa Babaoff, linda maria girón, Raisa Donato, and Skyler Cooper. Each of the Betties is distinctive and fascinating. All the performances are excellent, but Atosa Babaoff, as Betty 2, deserves to be called out for her fantastic ventriloquism. She uses her hand as a puppet to create a second character, an inner voice with whom she conducts a debate. It is true, unforgettable, theatrical magic.
On opening night, I believe I witnessed the longest sustained standing ovation I have ever encountered at a Bay area theatre.
Simply put: Don’t miss out on “Collective Rage: A Play In Five Betties.”
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Rating: ***** (For an explanation of TheatreStorm’s rating system, click here.)
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