Shelf Life
Presented by: The Arcade
Writer: Molly Goforth
Director: JV Mercanti
Summary:
Staying with the one you love despite her memory loss; putting on a gruff exterior to hide the pain you feel after losing the love of your life; finding compassion to help other cope: all complex emotions, but who would have thought they would be happening inside your refrigerator?
That’s the premise of Molly Goforth’s play Shelf Life, where things just might not be as quiet as you think when the light goes out and the door shuts. A bottle of ketchup (I think) named Hi (Eric Loscheider) and a jar of grape jelly named Sweetie (Teresa Stephenson) are an item, but Sweetie gets taken “out there” more than Hi. He asks each time she returns what it’s like, but she just replies “bright and boring” and lately, she seems to be remembering less and less.
Meanwhile, Hi defends Sweetie’s honor when an offensive and gruff refrigerator mate named Clovis (I’m guessing he’s horseradish or garlic paste — we never really know) and his cronies start throwing insults. The British-accented Armand, (baking soda) who has been sitting over in the corner longer than anyone can remember, tries to befriend him, as does French-accented Frieda (Katya Campbell, the best of all the condiments) who somehow has escaped the container where the rest of her family was lost (I think she’s a French fry, but until she described the terror of being boiled in oil, I thought she was Brie cheese).
A newcomer, Tex (Clark Gookin) whom Sweetie and Hi knew “back home” (wherever that was -- the supermarket? the warehouse? the processing plant?) arrives and is taken out almost as often as Sweetie (he’s maybe barbecue or steak sauce? Honestly, I know and I don’t care). Together they seem to be losing more and more of their memories and of themselves which leads the others to fear for their shelf lives.
The play is an interesting idea “gone bad” in that it becomes too serious and we’re left wondering about too much.
Highlights:
• A great Abbott and Costello “who’s on first” scenario when Sweeties forgets having met Tex.
• Lighting (Chad. Jung) and sound (Daniel Neumann) to create the interior of a refrigerator and the simulation of the door opening and shutting.
• Direction by JV Mercanti
• I’ll never throw away a box of baking soda from the frige with quite the same lack of feeling.
Lowlights:
• Spending too much time trying to figure out which condiments they all were. Call me slow, but I spent quite a while thinking from the dialogue that Hi must be peanut butter, but couldn’t figure out why he would be in the refrigerator or red.
• Too long for the plot to develop. At the half hour mark, one of the characters asks “what is this place” and if you hadn’t read the program description about it being a refrigerator, I’m not sure you would have known either.
Christians might also like to know:• Lord’s name taken in vain
• Language
• Sexually suggestive dialogue
Fringe Tassels Awarded: 2
VENUE #2: CSV Cultural and Edu. Cntr. Flamboyan
Run has ended
--Lauren Yarger
Presented by: The Arcade
Writer: Molly Goforth
Director: JV Mercanti
Summary:
Staying with the one you love despite her memory loss; putting on a gruff exterior to hide the pain you feel after losing the love of your life; finding compassion to help other cope: all complex emotions, but who would have thought they would be happening inside your refrigerator?
That’s the premise of Molly Goforth’s play Shelf Life, where things just might not be as quiet as you think when the light goes out and the door shuts. A bottle of ketchup (I think) named Hi (Eric Loscheider) and a jar of grape jelly named Sweetie (Teresa Stephenson) are an item, but Sweetie gets taken “out there” more than Hi. He asks each time she returns what it’s like, but she just replies “bright and boring” and lately, she seems to be remembering less and less.
Meanwhile, Hi defends Sweetie’s honor when an offensive and gruff refrigerator mate named Clovis (I’m guessing he’s horseradish or garlic paste — we never really know) and his cronies start throwing insults. The British-accented Armand, (baking soda) who has been sitting over in the corner longer than anyone can remember, tries to befriend him, as does French-accented Frieda (Katya Campbell, the best of all the condiments) who somehow has escaped the container where the rest of her family was lost (I think she’s a French fry, but until she described the terror of being boiled in oil, I thought she was Brie cheese).
A newcomer, Tex (Clark Gookin) whom Sweetie and Hi knew “back home” (wherever that was -- the supermarket? the warehouse? the processing plant?) arrives and is taken out almost as often as Sweetie (he’s maybe barbecue or steak sauce? Honestly, I know and I don’t care). Together they seem to be losing more and more of their memories and of themselves which leads the others to fear for their shelf lives.
The play is an interesting idea “gone bad” in that it becomes too serious and we’re left wondering about too much.
Highlights:
• A great Abbott and Costello “who’s on first” scenario when Sweeties forgets having met Tex.
• Lighting (Chad. Jung) and sound (Daniel Neumann) to create the interior of a refrigerator and the simulation of the door opening and shutting.
• Direction by JV Mercanti
• I’ll never throw away a box of baking soda from the frige with quite the same lack of feeling.
Lowlights:
• Spending too much time trying to figure out which condiments they all were. Call me slow, but I spent quite a while thinking from the dialogue that Hi must be peanut butter, but couldn’t figure out why he would be in the refrigerator or red.
• Too long for the plot to develop. At the half hour mark, one of the characters asks “what is this place” and if you hadn’t read the program description about it being a refrigerator, I’m not sure you would have known either.
Christians might also like to know:• Lord’s name taken in vain
• Language
• Sexually suggestive dialogue
Fringe Tassels Awarded: 2
VENUE #2: CSV Cultural and Edu. Cntr. Flamboyan
Run has ended
--Lauren Yarger
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