"The Dead Monkey," now playing at the Vortex Theatre, confronts the audience with uncomfortable situations in a small, intimate setting.
The play, written by Nick Dark and directed by Thane Kenny, centers on an aging couple named Hank and Dolores. Hank (Lou Mazullo) lived his youth as a magnificent surfer whose claim to fame was his pet monkey that surfed on his back. Dolores (Teri Sweeney) is the girl who fell in love with him.
Twenty years of marriage passed and the glory of their youth is long faded. Hank is now a traveling salesman on the road ten months out of the year. Dolores lives a life of loneliness and is desperate to fill that void.
The play opens with the death of Hank's beloved pet surfer monkey, which symbolizes everything Hank used to be and was Dolores' only source of companionship for years. With the monkey dead, the couple is forced to focus their attention on each other. Endless arguments begin as Hank and Dolores realize they are no longer in love.
The third character in the play, a zoo veterinarian (Richard Boehler) tries with everything he has to make the couple happy again. Unfortunately, this man is so engrossed in his job that he can't tell the difference between dealing with people and dealing with animals.
The zoo vet has long monologues over pointless things and misjudges the other characters' moods. His golden moment is his final appearance, when he cracks the most inappropriate jokes without being aware of it.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"The Dead Monkey" is a very bizarre play. It starts off funny, with Hank and Dolores in violent arguments that get stranger as more of Dolores' personal life is revealed. But, toward the end, the emphasis is more on the uncomfortable silence between two people who are sick of each other and at some points, the play is painful to watch.
Mazullo and Sweeney do a fine job as the couple, jumping from sweet lovebirds to violent drunks from scene to scene. The costumes and set add more to the peculiar nature of the script, putting characters in ugly, tacky outfits and taking place in a run down old beach house slightly too small for comfort.
Overall, the play is good, but it isn't great. It is very awkward to watch at times and at others, the jokes are so odd that it's hard to know whether to laugh or to actually take the dialogue seriously.
Because the audience is no more than a few yards away from the action, it can be very painful, especially in the numerous scenes of physical and emotional violence.
Still, the finale is well worth the rough moments.
"Dead Monkey" opens this Friday and runs every weekend through the May 25. The Vortex Theatre is at 2004 1/2 Central Ave. Call 247-8600 for more information.
