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Regional Reviews: Florida - West Coast Who Took The Last Ketchup Also see Bill's reviews of Amahl and The Night Visitors and A Christmas Story
Although it's great to have this company back in production, Who Took The Last Ketchup is not the strongest script they have ever done. The play is overlong, at two hours including intermission, and should be cut down to a 50 minute one-act. An hour is spent in the first act setting up a mis-matched marital relationship: He is ultra frugal and she is resentful of the deprivation this inflicts on her. The author has written some smart dialogue, but it becomes repetitive and would be better as a 10-minute opening scene. There is little plot to speak of until the second act when a transgender woman, whom the wife has brought into their hotel room for reasons that are too complicated to explain, is thought to be dead, which launches a series of incidents that, had they been more tightly scripted, might play as a farce. As it is, the second act seems to remind me of Joe Orton, surreal and farcical at the same time. The strengths of the script are that its idiosyncratic characters are believable and the author has an ear for dialogue. The best part of this production is the acting. Peter J. Konowicz as Max is just about perfect. He has the rhythms of the husband, always ready to save money, down pat, never far away from his little notebook where he keeps track of his savings. Skyla Dawn Luckey as wife Lena shows great understanding of how exasperated her character is from years of doing without things that could be afforded, but she is 20 years younger than the character and it does show. Eddy Ganim as Walter, the invited transsexual, does a fine job illuminating a character who finds it hard to live in a world that is not hospitable to him. Trevor Keller's direction is surely part of the reason for the fine ensemble performances. Uncredited scenic design, although done on a very limited budget, excellently defines the cheapest of cheap motel rooms in Florida. Lyle Cartwright's lighting and sound are also assets to the production. Next up for Gypsy Productions at Blu Room is an evening entitled So You Think You're a Movie Buff which features actors presenting scenes, songs, and iconic one-liners from famous and not so famous films, on February 22nd, 2015. I hope the Flamingo becomes the stable homebase that has eluded Gypsy Productions and that St. Petersburg can look forward to seeing more from them. Before the show began, I was introduced to Lil Barcaski, Artistic Director of Gypsy Stage Repertory, which has no connection to Gypsy Productions. Her company has a production entitled Life Upon the Wicked Stage coming up between January 8 and January 18, 2015, and an ultra-gay version of The Importance of Being Earnest in February. Visit www.GypsyStage.com for further information. Gypsy Productions presents Who Took The Last Ketchup, through December 21, 2014, at Blu Room Theater, Flamingo Resort, 4501 34th St. S, St. Petersburg, FL. For further information visit www.gypsyproductions.org. Cast: Max: Peter J. Konowicz
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