The last thing perhaps expected in a play about arranged marriage and social conformity, is a girl running around in circles snarling and barking like an angry terrier, while her grandfather/grandmother (played simultaneously by the same actor) cavorts about the stage like a broken clockwork toy. But that’s exactly what happens in Eugène Ionesco's surrealist drama Jack Or The Submission, the first of two plays about the deranged Jack family (The Future Is In Eggs being the second), in which the hapless titular son is compelled to marry a girl with two noses. Obviously, this is a source of consternation to Jack – who will only marry a girl with at least three noses.

Essentially a warped social commentary on the arbitrary expectations of children by their parents and the 'untruthfulness' that forms the foundations of so many human relationships, there's a story of sorts going on, buried beneath all the made-up words, non-sequiturs and general lunacy happening on stage. But it's the kind of play that's absorbed rather than taken in. The performances effectively extract the seam of absurdist humour from Ionesco’s text – at times impenetrably bizarre material that would defeat lesser productions. In the hands of a uniformly excellent cast, blessed with impeccable comic timing and a proper understanding of the dynamics of physical slapstick, though, some wonderfully-presented stage comedy results. Brett Waldon's schizophrenic portrayal of Mother and Father Jack (a dual personality dressed in a bizarre dual costume – women's skirts on the left, men's suit on the right) dominates the stage with frantic hysteria, as does Nicole Marquis's performance as Jack’s menacing sister, the maniacal, literally barking Jacqueline.

Things slow down towards the end, though, when the focus shifts towards the fantastical burgeoning relationship between Jack and Roberta II (Roberta I with an extra nose stuck to her face). Although it's a sequence of arresting, nightmarish monologues about guinea-pigs growing at the bottom of a bath and a wild horse galloping through an abandoned desert metropolis with its mane on fire – all very reminiscent of surrealist 1970s progressive rock album covers – the manic energy of the first half is dissipated somewhat and the play ends on a strangely flat note. But for the most part, this is a worthy example of intelligently-staged surrealist weirdness for fans of the genre, and maybe even some normal people too.

Cast Credits: (alpha order): Esme Allen - Mother and Father Robert. Lisa Loutitt - Roberta I and II. David Mack - Grandmother and Grandfather Jack. Nicole Marquis - Jacqueline. Sonny Valicenti - Jack. Brett Waldon - Mother and Father Jack.

Company Credits: Writer – Eugène Ionesco (1909-1994). Director – Lars Jan. Costume Designer – Vanessa Porter. Sound Design and Original Composition – Qasim Naqvi & Nathan Ruyle. Company – Cal Arts Festival Theater. http://calartsatvenue13.com

END

(c) Dan Geary 2007

reviewed Saturday 11 Aug 07 / CalArts Theater at Venue 13

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008