“a wildly satisfying story of self-destruction”
In case you haven’t been shocked into gleeful submission in a while, or … cradled the urge to run into a burning building just for some peace and quiet, consider a ticket to “The Onion Game” … It just may be the salve you’ve been looking for in these ridiculous times.
(This is) the American premiere of Bryan Delaney’s dark comedy, a cozy enough label for a genre that’s often hard to pin down … subversive, twisted, riotous, far-fetched and radically free … The feeling … (of) jumping out of a play’s window mid-flight; the pure joy in the danger of being weightless.
It’s the most alive I have felt in a theater in quite some time.
Delaney’s plays “The Cobbler” and “The Seedbed” … are in effect completed with “The Onion Game” … a trilogy of distant cousins, unlinked but sprouted from the same root urges: to tell stories, to challenge, to devour.
Here, we meet a family on the brink of self-destruction … It might be easy to assume, as with many dark comedies, that their love, while uncommon by societal standards, is just as heartfelt and earnest … But that would be too kind; this nuclear family is poised to detonate.
This company shines vivid light on these wacko personalities. The fearless Stan Klimecko is Onion … uncompassionate … disaffected … disheveled onion farmer; … writing the next Great Irish Novel … Kelly Meg Brennan revels in the juicy role of Pearl, Onion’s wife …
Louie Visone is delicious in the role of Ogie, their post-pubescent son who cavorts around the household in briefs and open-aired robes … And Ava Schara is a breath of fresh air (for a moment) as young Milly, a poet by heart, the most earnest one around …
Ray Boucher and David Lundy each deliver distinct wacky roles of cosmic-orbiting proportions. Lundy is especially off his rocker, to our benefit. Nobody is who they seem, right up until the end …
Director Greg Natale illuminates Delaney’s massive vision … From David King’s detailed set to Tom Makar’s punctuating (and moving) sound design, to a fantastically placed video component … by Brian Milbrand … this is an orchestral production of a rock ‘n’ roll opera.
A wild, satisfying, tooth-rotting ride that you’re not likely to regret. Bravo.