Rattlesnakes and Talk About The Passion
Rattlesnakes and Talk About The Passion
By Graham Farrow
Directed by John DiDonna
Valencia State College, Orlando, FL
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The program calls Graham Farrow’s work “visceral;” that means actors swear a lot and do nasty things to each other. There’s no connection between these one acts save man’s inherent inhumanity; but at 45 minutes each this does make for a quick and fun evening’s entertainment. “Rattlesnakes” takes us to a seedy hotel room where McQueen (Kyle West) sneaks in for an illicit rendezvous. He’s a happily married gigolo here on a mission to satisfy Shelly (Alyssa Dowling) but he didn’t expect to find three thugs in the closet. These masked men are married to three of his clients, and they are out to “do him up a right treat.” (Farrow is British, the evening is packed with Britisms.) The leader of the pack is Hanson (Luis Landa); he wields a Bowie knife bigger than Trump’s ego. The boys have their fun, but McQueen starts talking about how bad they are as husbands, how loveless their marriage are, and touchy-feely about listening and all these bad boys go soft. Two split but Hanson sticks around to watch from the closet as Susan humiliates McQueen. Then there’s a gun shot and a double cross and an ending that shows a lack of familiarity with murder scene protocol as taught on “CSI.” While the story is a contrived and message heavy the ultra-violence disturbs; but it’s the gritty reality of the sex trade that will really make you wince.
“Talk about the Passion” paints a more believable picture; Evelyn (Courtney Yakabuski) is a big time publisher with a serial killer’s story on her best seller list. Hapless Carroway (Sean Kemp) waits all day to see her; she blows him off but he attacks her. Turns out his kid was a victim of the serial dude and he’s a little upset no one listens to him. It’s an excellent point; anyone can be a victim but the killer’s mind is always more interesting. It feels odd he’s making money; that’s been outlawed over here for a while but maybe it’s possible in the UK. We live out this hostage situation completely vicariously; you might even feel a twinge of some Stockholm syndrome. Evelyn emits heartless bitch rays constantly; she is hard to sympathize with. Carroway is not only more likeable, his character feels more real and alive than anyone else tonight.
For more information on Valencia College Theater please visit > http:// http://valenciacollege.edu/artsandentertainment/Theater/schedule.cfm/
