Rogue: "Gargoyles in Love"
I'm almost never offended at the theater. You're talking about someone who drives around with the original cast album of the "Jerry Springer Opera" in his car -- a show almost universally regarded as the most offensive, profane and sacrilegious dramatic creation of the last 10 years. (I think it's brilliant.)
But I walked out on the Red Dog Liberation Company's production of "Gargoyles in Love," staged at the Severance Building as part of the Rogue Festival.
This original play by Darlow Safley is tedious, but that's not the problem. It's the premise: a dating service for near-centenarians. An entrepreneur decides to match up single folks close to 100 years old. And who plays these older people? A mostly young acting company made up to look old in ridiculous costumes. Joke after joke pokes fun at the ignobilities of aging, from gags about diarrhea and prune juice to astonishgly inappropriate remarks about syphylis. This is a play in which the audience is supposed to laugh at a 97-year-old woman who can't apply her lipstick properly, thus smearing it all over her face.
Director Steve Torres can't find the right sketch-comedy tone for the proceedings. It probably could have worked as a "Saturday Night Live" skit. But in the hands of this company, it's plodding and surprisingly mean. When the 91-year-old guy walks in with a noose around his neck, it isn't funny, just in poor taste. When the old woman, listening to a story about a college in France, hears "some buns" instead of "Sorbonne," it isn't clever, just inane. When the young owner of the dating service sighs in disgust as he says, "senior citizens," it's weirdly disrespectful. This is one Rogue show to avoid.
Additional performances: 2:30 and 7 p.m. March 11, Severance Building (corner of Wishon and Floradora) Tickets: $7.
Comments:
Here's another view I received from a cast member:
Your review of Gargoyles in Love was disheartening & mean. The Rogue Festival is billed as a non-juried venue for artists to perform original works. As a member of the cast I was glad you walked out before my character entered the second act. Yes, we were in ridiculous costumes, & some of us had ridiculous! lines to deliver, but the creative process which has brought us all together in the last 3 months of preperation for the festival has been rewarding & challenging. I assume you have never been in a play or involved in the production of one. The hours involved are countless & the scheduling of all the lives of the people in the production are also tedious & sometimes near impossible to acheive. Friends & families of the young people in the play have come out to support each one of us in our creative endeaver with this play & your mean spirited reveiw makes me more determined to get through 2 more performances o! f a play you have judged harshly. As to the other members of the cast & crew, I hope they have the same determination that I have & that my 99 year old grandmother had & show the rest of Fresno that if you live to be that old you can look & sound riduculous even though others disapprove. ! Ciao, Linda Stiles
Posted by: Donald Munro at March 10, 2006 11:29 AM
Mr. Munro,
I found your review of "Gargoyles in Love" to be completely justified. After reading the posted comment I would like to address the fact that any show that sells tickets and invites media deserves to be fairly reviewed, which I do believe you did. I fear that this young lady has never done a production outside of High school and doesn't know the harsh reality that not everyone will enjoy what you present.
As a performer myself I have been involved in shows you have reviewed negatively and I must say that I respected and even agreed with your comments. I would also like to thank you for reviewing this show at all. I believe that art as we know it would not exist without criticism. So once again thank you for your support of The Rogue, local theatre and thank you for keeping your reviews fair and unbiased.
[I am also sorry I allowed you to pay for the show, I wanted to warn you of the nature of the production but could not find the words.]
Posted by: Anonymous at March 10, 2006 1:06 PM
My play, Gargoyles in Love, concerned a band of centenarians who had been tricked into getting dating services from a shyster entrepreneur who was trying to take advantage of them. It was not written to make fun of the elderly but rather to show what spirit they can maintain when faced with adversity since they fight back successfully against the status quo. Many elderly people do have various foibles and eccentricities as part of their makeup and tend to be outspoken, harboring various opinions or phobias that, as juxtaposed to the norm, can be odd or funny.
Posted by: D.R.Safley at March 11, 2006 11:12 AM
I played the character with the knooce around his neck. I just wanted to say thanks to yhe rest of the cast for a great learning expirience . And also to each and every person who attended our preformences .I think when people can come together as a team and put on a preformence that people enjoy its very inspirational . And to Mr Munro I will give a $3.50 refund for the second half of the show that you just couldn't sit through .
Posted by: Rick Spradlin at March 12, 2006 3:50 PM
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