Past Reviews

Regional Reviews: Albuquerque/Santa Fe


Regional Reviews

Red Herring
The Vortex Theatre

Also see Dean's reviews of Angels of Light: The Practically True Story of The Cockettes and Curtains


Andrew Leith and Abriana LaValley
Even if you know nothing about the Cold War, Joe McCarthy, the Rosenbergs, Bikini Atoll, or Raymond Chandler, you'll still have a great time at this show. Michael Hollinger's Red Herring (get it—red?) is an insanely clever mash-up of 1950s cop shows, spy history, and kippers, with a plot so thick you pretty much have to see it twice. It didn't bother me that the coincidences are way beyond belief. It's still a really fun time at the theater.

Where to begin with the plot? It all takes place within the few days leading up to Eisenhower's election in 1952, while anti-Communist witch hunts were going on in Congress. James Appel is a Los Alamos scientist who is leaking secrets to the Soviets through a courier in Boston (look up Klaus Fuchs or the odious David Greenglass, Ethel Rosenberg's brother). He's in love with, of all people, Senator Joseph McCarthy's daughter Lynn, and she's in love with him. (He's Jewish, she's Catholic, but that's not the worst of their problems.) Simultaneously, Boston policewoman Maggie is trying to catch a serial murderer, while her detective boyfriend Frank is trying to uncover the spy and to convince Maggie to marry him. Simultaneously, Mrs. Kravitz, who runs a boarding house on the Boston docks, is trying to get Russian émigré fisherman Andrei Borchevsky to forget about his wife, who is being held in the Soviet Union, and marry her instead. Confused already?

How these and several other characters, plus herring, figure into a cohesive plot is a convoluted joy to behold. You have to be on your toes, but even if you lose track, there are enough jokes to keep you laughing through the entire show. That, plus the acting is terrific.

Six actors play 18 roles, and a lot of the entertainment value is seeing them exit as one character and enter a minute later with a different costume and accent. Comedy, as we all know, is hard, but these actors make it look easy. The director, John Hardman, is such an esteemed personage in Albuquerque theater that he has attracted top-notch talent, including some actors who don't perform all that often.

It's a real pleasure to see the excellent Andrew Leith (James and three other characters) on stage again after several years. I wish he wouldn't make himself so scarce. He's paired with the amazing Abriana LaValley (Lynn plus one other), whom I have never seen before. She was born for comedy, without a doubt, and I hope she decides to appear more often. The scene at confession is hysterical; and the scene that opens the second act, an international phone call between James and Lynn, with the old time delays, is a masterpiece of comic timing by her and Andrew.

Aaron Worley (Frank and two others) has never been better. Joni L. Lloyd as Maggie is equally fine as the determined and wary cop. Mark Hisler (Andrei and four others, one being a corpse) is funnier than I have ever seen him. I didn't know he had such a gift for comedy and exasperation. And Leigh-Ann Santillanes is very good as the wisecracking Mrs. Kravitz (plus two others).

The only problem with Hollinger's script is that he writes short scenes, sometimes only a minute or so. This could easily work on TV, but it's a challenge to stage. John Hardman and assistant director Harry Zimmerman have made this play zip along as breezily as possible, but I think everybody in the audience felt sorry for the stagehands who had to carry in a couch and then carry it off a couple minutes later, over and over again. They probably should have just left the damn couch on stage, and not bothered to make up and unmake the bed on the other side of the stage. At least the music during scene changes was diverting (the "Dragnet" theme figures prominently).

The set by Mary Rossman is pretty minimal, but does its job. Costumes by Kip Caswell with Liz McMaster as dresser, props by Claudia Mathes (I'm predicting a slipped disk by the end of the run from all that couch-lifting), lighting by Andrew McHarney, and sound by Marty Epstein are all very good. The complicated production is stage-managed by Stef Odom-Wertz.

It's always a pleasure to see a play that's new to you and turns out to be a joy. Don't be hesitant if you've never heard of Michael Hollinger or Red Herring. For a good time, see this show.

Pedantic note: The poem "A wonderful bird is the pelican" that has a big role in this play is not by Ogden Nash, even though everybody thinks it is. It was written by Dixon Lanier Merritt in 1910, when Nash was 8 years old.

Red Herring, a comedy by Michael Hollinger, directed by John Hardman, is being presented at the Vortex Theatre, 2900 Carlisle NE, about a block south of Candelaria, in Albuquerque. Through June 13, 2015. Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30, Sundays at 2:00. Tickets $22, students $15. (The Vortex has a new policy on ticket prices: all tickets for the first weekend of a run are $12. There is no longer a Pay What You Will performance.) Info at www.vortexabq.org or 505-247-8600.


Photo: Alan Mitchell Photography


--Dean Yannias