Jim Lowe / Staff photo
The women of “Quantam Dog in a Deep Blue Jaguar” – from left, Brenda (Tobin Jordan), Glen (Steph-Marie Szenasi), Mom (Tracey Lynn Girdich) and Vision (Switalski) – en tableau.
Goldberg enjoys the dark side of families Theater Review
Jim Lowe | November 12, 2017
By JIM LOWE
STAFF WRITER
BURLINGTON – “Quantam Dog in a Deep Blue Jaguar” is a family tale – though hardly appropriate for all family members.
Stephen Goldberg is back, better than ever. The Burlington’s playwright’s unique take on humanity and his deliciously dark wit came through loud and clear in Green Candle Theatre Company’s revival of his 1995 play, which closes tonight at the Off Center for the Dramatic Arts.
Friday’s performance was a sheer delight, in part because he had cut 45 minutes from the original’s two hours, and in a large part due to a splendid cast. Goldberg directed the production.
The Bradley's aren’t your everyday family. Mom, a retired nightclub singer, seems normal enough, but she thinks of son Tommy as a child, and is very, very angry. Part of her problem is her husband Thomas, a former physics professor, who is agoraphobic and hasn’t left the house for years. Son Tommy, 32 and still living at home, only wants to do drugs and fantasize about having sex with his girlfriend on public restroom floors.
Unpleasant things begin to happen to the Bradleys. Thomas’ former colleague Jack arrives directly from prison, with his imaginary sex toy in tow, and moves in. So Mom moves out. Meanwhile, Tommy’s girlfriend Brenda presses Tommy to grow up and fly right – but her self-assurance makes him impotent.
The tale begins to coalesce when Mom is befriended by the hood and former fan Frankie the D. Taking this to a happy ending – and there is one, sort of – is the joy as it happens in uniquely Goldberg surreal fashion. It’s the journey that presents such a macabre pleasure.
Goldberg is one of Vermont’s finest playwrights, and one of the few to refreshingly stray from the traditional. His prolific run of 20 plays 1982-2005 was halted by the death by cancer of his wife, the singer-songwriter Rachel Bissex (1956-2005). But Goldberg, also a fine jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player, has gradually returned to the theater.
Throughout Goldberg’s work has been championed by Burlington’s Green Candle Theatre Company, founded as Garage Theatre in 1989 by four University of Vermont theater alumni. Five of the seven-member cast of “Quantum Dog” have appeared in previously Goldberg plays, some many times. And their comfort showed.
Mom was played by Tracey Lynn Girdich, sympathetic with her own sly wit. Alex Dostie was droll with a wry deadpan as the emotionally crippled Dad, while Ellis Burgin was ridiculously authentic as their stoner son Tommy.
Aaron Masi was delightfully sociopathic as Dad’s delusional friend Jack, and Nicole Switalska was sexy and ethereal as his Vision. Tobin Jordan mixed commanding and sultry as Tommy’s girlfriend Brenda, while Steph-Marie Szenaski gave the waitress Glen a sulky charm. And Dennis McSorley was perfect as the gangster Frankie the D.
Throughout, the ensemble work was seamless and convincing. Only the very end seemed a bit awkward, made unclear not by the writing, but by the staging and lighting.
The Off Center for the Dramatic Arts, founded in 2010 by Burlington theater professionals John D. Alexander, Goldberg, Genevra MacPhail and Paul Schnabel, is one of the very few places in Vermont where experimental or non-traditional theater can be seen. The Off Center doesn’t present, rather it operates the 65-seat black box in Burlington’s North End where small theater company’s can introduce their work at a reasonable cost.
Goldberg’s “Quantum Dog in a Deep Blue Jaguar” proved a refreshing change from the norm. It was entertaining, sometimes hilarious, touching or unnerving, but always unexpected.
Off Center for the Dramatic Arts
The Off Center for the Dramatic Arts will present the premiere of “Hotball,” a “muSICKal” be Geoff Hewitt and David Schein, Dec. 1-10 at the Off Center, 294 N. Winooski Ave., Burlington. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays.
For tickets or information, go online to www.offcentervt.com.
The women of “Quantam Dog in a Deep Blue Jaguar” – from left, Brenda (Tobin Jordan), Glen (Steph-Marie Szenasi), Mom (Tracey Lynn Girdich) and Vision (Switalski) – en tableau.
Goldberg enjoys the dark side of families Theater Review
Jim Lowe | November 12, 2017
By JIM LOWE
STAFF WRITER
BURLINGTON – “Quantam Dog in a Deep Blue Jaguar” is a family tale – though hardly appropriate for all family members.
Stephen Goldberg is back, better than ever. The Burlington’s playwright’s unique take on humanity and his deliciously dark wit came through loud and clear in Green Candle Theatre Company’s revival of his 1995 play, which closes tonight at the Off Center for the Dramatic Arts.
Friday’s performance was a sheer delight, in part because he had cut 45 minutes from the original’s two hours, and in a large part due to a splendid cast. Goldberg directed the production.
The Bradley's aren’t your everyday family. Mom, a retired nightclub singer, seems normal enough, but she thinks of son Tommy as a child, and is very, very angry. Part of her problem is her husband Thomas, a former physics professor, who is agoraphobic and hasn’t left the house for years. Son Tommy, 32 and still living at home, only wants to do drugs and fantasize about having sex with his girlfriend on public restroom floors.
Unpleasant things begin to happen to the Bradleys. Thomas’ former colleague Jack arrives directly from prison, with his imaginary sex toy in tow, and moves in. So Mom moves out. Meanwhile, Tommy’s girlfriend Brenda presses Tommy to grow up and fly right – but her self-assurance makes him impotent.
The tale begins to coalesce when Mom is befriended by the hood and former fan Frankie the D. Taking this to a happy ending – and there is one, sort of – is the joy as it happens in uniquely Goldberg surreal fashion. It’s the journey that presents such a macabre pleasure.
Goldberg is one of Vermont’s finest playwrights, and one of the few to refreshingly stray from the traditional. His prolific run of 20 plays 1982-2005 was halted by the death by cancer of his wife, the singer-songwriter Rachel Bissex (1956-2005). But Goldberg, also a fine jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player, has gradually returned to the theater.
Throughout Goldberg’s work has been championed by Burlington’s Green Candle Theatre Company, founded as Garage Theatre in 1989 by four University of Vermont theater alumni. Five of the seven-member cast of “Quantum Dog” have appeared in previously Goldberg plays, some many times. And their comfort showed.
Mom was played by Tracey Lynn Girdich, sympathetic with her own sly wit. Alex Dostie was droll with a wry deadpan as the emotionally crippled Dad, while Ellis Burgin was ridiculously authentic as their stoner son Tommy.
Aaron Masi was delightfully sociopathic as Dad’s delusional friend Jack, and Nicole Switalska was sexy and ethereal as his Vision. Tobin Jordan mixed commanding and sultry as Tommy’s girlfriend Brenda, while Steph-Marie Szenaski gave the waitress Glen a sulky charm. And Dennis McSorley was perfect as the gangster Frankie the D.
Throughout, the ensemble work was seamless and convincing. Only the very end seemed a bit awkward, made unclear not by the writing, but by the staging and lighting.
The Off Center for the Dramatic Arts, founded in 2010 by Burlington theater professionals John D. Alexander, Goldberg, Genevra MacPhail and Paul Schnabel, is one of the very few places in Vermont where experimental or non-traditional theater can be seen. The Off Center doesn’t present, rather it operates the 65-seat black box in Burlington’s North End where small theater company’s can introduce their work at a reasonable cost.
Goldberg’s “Quantum Dog in a Deep Blue Jaguar” proved a refreshing change from the norm. It was entertaining, sometimes hilarious, touching or unnerving, but always unexpected.
Off Center for the Dramatic Arts
The Off Center for the Dramatic Arts will present the premiere of “Hotball,” a “muSICKal” be Geoff Hewitt and David Schein, Dec. 1-10 at the Off Center, 294 N. Winooski Ave., Burlington. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays.
For tickets or information, go online to www.offcentervt.com.
