Highly amusing and entertaining, lots of laughs, lots of talent, is an apt description of “Ionescopade” currently playing at the Odyssey Theater in West Los Angeles.
Long after the play was over, that nine scenes in the first act and eight scenes in the second act, popped back in this reviewer’s head and reminded me about the brilliance underlying the silliness.
For example, in one scene, a mob is trying to follow a leader, but can’t find him. When asked how they knew he was going to be there, someone responded “I heard.” Instantly I was struck by the way social media passes on information, without checking facts.
When the leader was eventually found, he was headless, to which one actor responded, “It’s okay to have a headless leader.”
What thinking person in our society hasn’t been wondering if our leaders are indeed “headless” and lack common-sense thinking?
Each scene is inspired by a part of a play or character or writing from the journal of famed playwright Eugene Ionesco. For those who have “had” to study the plays of the “Theatre of the Absurd,” a term coined by critic Martin Essline given to playwrights such as Ionesco, Samuel Becket and Harold Pinter, one knows the works don’t follow a conventional form. I wasn’t particularly keen on seeing this play because I know that these playwrights, who lived through World War II and felt that they were living through the dissolution of society, rebelled against traditional art forms, sometimes using surreal scenes and dialogue that often is confusing.
Additionally, “Ionescopade” is referred to in press releases as vaudeville, something most theatre-goers have never experienced in person. In reality, a more descriptive term for this play is sketch comedy, such as what we see on “Saturday Night Live.”
Each of the scenes works can stand alone and vary from humorous (Chef) to a lovely musical solo (Madeleine), to an amusing fight between three generals as they try to settle differences over potted plants. And then, there is the silly “Bobby Watson and family” (everyone in the family is
named Bobby Watson).
This show first opened off-Broadway in 1974 and returned in 2012. It had its West Coast premiere in 1982. Music and lyrics are by Mildred Kayden, now 90, who was a friend of Ionesco. It is brilliantly directed by Bill Castellino, who understands the timing needed in a piece that is essentially comedic.
The production stars Alan Abelew, Andrew Ableson, Joey D’Auria, Cristina Gerla, Kelly Lester, Tom Lowe and Jennifer Malenke. This talented ensemble cast can do it all—sing, dance and act. The costuming, by Mylette Nora, is delightful. I particularly loved the silly yellow “get-ups” in “Mother Peeps.”
In a number towards the finale, the cast hands out flyers, “The Best Is Yet to Be.” By that time, the cast had the audience in their spell, with everyone smiling, laughing and ready for any additional silliness actors offered.
Not until after I arrived home did deeper messages—about life and it’s meaning—surface.
Ionesco once said, “Death is our main problem and all others are less important. It is also the wall and the limit. It is the only inescapable alienation; It gives us a sense of limits. But the ignorance of ourselves and of others to which we are condemned is just as worrying. In the final analysis, we don’t know what we’re doing. Nevertheless, in all my work there is an element of hope and an appeal to others.”
Go to this play, laugh, have a delightful evening, and then, if you want, let the profound surface: a nice aftertaste of a first-class production.
“Ionescopade” is at the Odyssey Theater, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., through August 11. Tickets are $30 (August 9 is pay-what-you-can, $10 minimum). Call (310) 477-2055 ext. 2 or visit OdysseyTheatre.com.
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