Bigger cast sharpens 'nails'

by Amy Dalness

Daily Lobo

The gripping one-man show "Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead" is being produced at the Theatre X, but with one major change.

There's a cast of seven.

Director Josh Hunt said he decided to use seven performers for the show rather than one to help drive the play.

Hunt's decision to enlarge the cast did not hinder playwright Eric Bogosian's dark comedy, but brought the show a more dramatic edge.

Bogosian won an Obie for "Pounding Nails" in 1994.

It starts off with a monologue called "Molecules," which sets the tone for the entire play.

A homeless man (Alex Lane) is on a subway train. It's not just any subway train - it's "soul train," and he is the captain. The man's molecules infect Frank the businessman with "the disease of fear."

With the larger cast, Hunt takes this scene from a well-written rant to a real place by including reactions from subway patrons.

Hunt calls Bogosian's work "slice-of-life theater" because anyone could come to the show and see someone he or she has met.

He said he picked this piece because it is not the norm and dives into issues without being preachy.

The introduction monologue is well done by Patrick McElwee. His address to the audience doesn't feel like performance, but is more like he's just talking about what is on his mind.

Many dynamic characters are introduced throughout the production. There's a motivational speaker (Chris Orrell) whose "inner-baby" philosophies hold Ayn Rand-like qualities, a man in love with life but fearful of old age (Theo Hamblin) and a Vietnam veteran with an expensive grill (Justin Young).

The production draws from audience conversation. At some points, audience members respond in the form of interactive theater.

Bogosian's show is well-written and extremely comedic, though he is neither a comedian nor a performing artist, according to his Web site.

"It's a language piece," Hunt said.

Hunt's seven-actor, one-man show required the actors to take their monologues to the extreme and then take them back down to reality, he said.

This worked well for most of the piece. However, the fluid motion from one monologue to the next wavered during Merritt Glover's medicine monologue. She didn't quite take the piece from melodramatic to real. If fake was her character choice, then she pulled it off. Unfortunately it interrupted the dynamic of the show.

To conclude the piece, Hunt modified the last monologue, "Blow Me," to include the entire cast on stage. It created a chaos and tension on stage that was a perfect climax.

"Pounding Nails" is a great modern tragicomedy. It will make you laugh even though what you are laughing at is inherently sad.

"Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead"

Directed by Josh Hunt

Theatre X

Tonight, Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm

$8 general admission $6 students and seniors