Filth and fun before this 'Hurlyburly' is done

By Aaron Zamost

PATRICK MCGARVEY/YH Patrick Egan, SY '98, and Patrick Jacobi, SY '98, are a couple of dirtbags.

Are you sick of doing lines of coke? Have you sworn off cheap prostitutes and 16-year-old hitchhikers? Do you revel in the opportunity to view the most talented actors at Yale? If you answered "yes" to these questions, there are two definite remedies for your ailment. First, get psychological help. Second, see Hurly- burly, David Rabe's ode to Los Angeles, chemical imbalances, sex, drugs, and Wil-lie Nelson. Attend the play's opening song and "Take a walk on the wild side"--it should take you down Whitney Avenue, onto Audubon, all the way to the Artspace, and into the chaotic world of seven dysfunctional individuals. Everything about director Ryan Karels' production is amazing: the plot, the performances, the Pulp Fiction-esque dialogue, even the amount of alcohol that's consumed.

Eddie, played by a sensational Patrick Egan, SY '98, is at the helm of this ship of fools as a casting director who spends more time smoking weed and yelling at the television than actively coordinating work. His roommate is Mickey, a cynical Hollywood-wannabe alcoholic, portrayed with delightful ease by Patrick Jacobi, SY '98. While Eddie and Mickey may be the only residents of the apartment, it seems like the two are never the only ones home. There's Phil (Dave Kear, SY '98), who struggles with both acting and his marriage, and Artie, played to perfection by Thomas Shaw, DC '99, as a marginally successful Hollywood producer.

The actors complement one another with such dynamism that you never know whom to love, whom to hate, whom to trust, or whom to doubt. On an individual level, each of the characters is a degenerate boor. Artie is slick-tongued, Eddie flaunts a "terminal toxic nastiness," Mickey makes jokes at the expense of the deceased, and Phil is simply a bastard. These are guys you'd love to hate, but, somehow, feelings of disgust evolve into comic admiration. When thrown together into the apathetic vortex of Eddie and Mickey's apartment, the group is unusually tolerable and regularly hilarious.

Midway through the first act, the testosterone-packed cast gets a monstrous estrogen boost as the first woman arrives. The always-sleazy Artie introduces Donna, a hitchhiking harlot played by Shana Crystal, TD '01, as "a perfectly viable piece of ass." The oblivious Donna won't win any awards for respectability, as "the care package" is ceremoniously and ambivalently shared by three of the insanely horny men. Nonetheless, Donna isn't the only subject of cooperative sexual distribution in the play. Jeanne Goodman, BR '99, plays Darlene, a freelance photographer and Eddie's girlfriend-turned-Mickey's-fling-turned-Eddie's girlfriend again. But the sociable partition of sex continues. Bonnie, wonderfully portrayed by Nicole Caccavo, TC '98, is the only one of the three women who can attribute her sluttish ways to a distinctly professional foundation. This courtesan trio, when combined with the hormonal male quartet, produces a thoroughly entertaining love heptagon entirely based on impassive sex.

Hurlyburly fuses unusual sentiments with unusual characters in an effort to contrive impulsive views of grown-up Generation Xers and their almost nonsensical existences. Scenes in the performance range from morbidly hilarious to just plain morbid; one morning's breakfast consists of moldy Hostess Snowballs, chee-tos, orange juice, vodka, cocaine and marijuana. Is this funny? If you're sadistic, yes. But the incident is purposely conveyed with a bizarre semblance of cheerful stoner masochism, and can't be viewed in any fashion other than delicately humorous. But despite the audience's reservations about inappropriate laughter, the characters lack emotional restraint, molding scenes into spectacles of nervous awkwardness. The performers are great, the set is great, the music is great, and the play is great. And although sex, drugs, violence, and Cheez-Whiz may not seem like appropriate material for a holiday weekend, seeing this play is definitely worth showing up late to church or a seder. Don't skip Hurlyburly for Passover. You'll miss one hell of a show.

Back to A&E...