Week #1 began with In the Church of the Pen by Los Angeles playwright Kristen Lazarian, an amusing little piece about a playwright who goes nuts when the two melodramatic actors start adlibbing and finding “subtexts” in the play that the playwright never intended. Fred Harlow is a riot as the playwright who storms out in the first scene, ripping his program to shreds, before coming back and storming the stage – much to the aghast of the annoyed and embarrassed actors (Chrissy Burns and Len Irving), with the director Liv Kellgren calmly trying to keep the fiasco from getting more fiasco-ish, during which time they all dream of the allure of Hollywood but take pride in the beauty (and poverty) of live theatre.

The live theatre continues with one of the definite highlights of the Blitz, Steven A. Lyons’ Peaches En Regalia. This hilarious romp is set in Doug’s Diner and centers around a young, fashion-conscious college co-ed named Peaches (Sharla Boggs), who has the look and personality reminiscent of Alicia Silverstone in Clueless and who has a theory that all major events in recent history are directly related to the fluctuations in gas prices. She becomes a waitress at the diner when she sees that they have named a dessert after her.

It is through her and the diner that three other outrageous characters become entangled – an easygoing customer with a southern accent named Syd (Jonathan Sachs), the socially inept Norman (Diep Huynh) who is intent on self-improvement and becoming more sociable (even in the men’s room in a most memorable exploration of bathroom etiquette), and the distraught 37-year-old Joanne (Teri Brown) who goes nuts when her calculations show she should have been married by the age of 36, and who puts flowers in her underwear that will theoretically only be noticed by Mr. Right. Featuring four hilarious performances and a witty script that brings them to life and then cleverly ties them together, Peaches En Regalia was a treat from beginning to end.

The last show completely and abruptly changes gears. Curious Dangerous, by local playwright T. H. Horan, is a slow-paced, metaphysical mystery about a young bride named Karen (Jennifer Eve Kraus) who refuses to go visit her terminally ill best friend Amanda (Rachael Van Wormer) in the hospital, but who brings home a complete stranger (Pat Moran) who refuses to take off a bag over his head, who speaks haltingly and robotically, and who claims his name is Isaac Newton. Naturally, Karen’s husband Adam (Brennan Taylor) finds this all a bit strange, and must have been wondering what on earth he had gotten himself into. There’s plenty of potential, though the play still needs to be tightened and smoothed out a bit, its rhythm being constantly jarred by too many breaks between very short scenes, and the importance of the relationship between Karen and Amanda could be further developed. But some good performances and great scenes between Adam and Amanda, as well as Adam and his wife and his mysterious “guest,” help keep the interest up.

Rob Hopper
San Diego Playbill