Title: America:aciremA

Written by: Eric F. Avery, Blake E. Bolan, Laura Leffler-McCabe and Ben Mattson

Date saw the show: July 27, 2007
Place saw the show: Kansas City, Missouri, Fringe Festival
Company: l.e. coup http://lauralefflermccabe.com/default.aspx
Principal Leads: Eric F. Avery, Laura Leffler-McCabe, Ben Mattson

3 Stars

Reviewed by: Deborah Ground Buckner America:aciremA is billed as a “slice of hilarity pie with a cold scoop of satire on the side. You wanna see this energetic romp through the muck and mire of American culture!” The show is presented in the style of a vaudeville revue with sketches, song, and dance.

But there is no subtlety in its message, and for the most part, it becomes clear this is not intended as a comedy. The opening scene establishes the play's views on what's wrong with America today: Employers being told who they must hire, soldiers fighting a war not clearly understandable, and, receiving the most emphasis, gays not being allowed to marry. Unfortunately, this latter argument can't be made without a host of adolescent “dick,” “beating off,” and “packing fudge” jokes.

The characters go back in time to the days of vaudeville where a black actor performs a “Jim Crow” dance (which, by the way, Eric F. Avery does very well) while the white announcer (Ben Mattson) makes watermelon and fried chicken jokes. In the same vein, a young woman dancer (Laura Leffler-McCabe) is the victim of sexual harassment by the announcer. The black man and white woman stand together as victims in their mistreatment which is made obviously and painfully apparent to the audience.

In the more clever portion of the play, Avery and Mattson appear as two sisters, Mrs. Mason and Mrs. Dixon, representing the North and South in the time of the Civil War. Through their dialogue, the causes of the war (historically accurate, discussing many issues beyond the mere question of slavery) become clear. They share a song about “War Used to Be Romantic.” When each woman learns her husband has been killed, however, war is viewed in a different way, and the need to heal and live together as one nation becomes clear. The scene is marred only by the two men singing in falsetto and closing on a high note that made me long to hear something more pleasant, like fingernails on a chalkboard. Abraham Lincoln makes a brief appearance, on his way to the theater.

Action then goes back to the American Revolution and the Boston Tea Party (the players tossing tea bags into a blue cloth ocean). The cast seems to drive home as its final point that a country born of revolution, the place of movements to assure civil rights to women and African-Americans should follow suit and recognize gay marriage. It's fine for a play to have a message, but it should be billed as such. The audience was promised “hilarity pie” but received cod liver oil instead.

The group, based in Minneapolis, will next present America:aciremA at the Calgary International Fringe Festival, August 11-17.