Attack of the WASP
Second Lunch B.H.A.G.G. show is an amusing dark comedy by Steve Martin
Jeanne Fronda, Staff
Photograph: Derek Law
King Tut and White Anglo Saxon Protestant culture have something in common: Steve Martin.
Martin, who is well-known comedian for starring on the TV show Saturday Night Live and for hitting the Top 40 in the late ’70s with his song “King Tut,” is also the playwright who wrote WASP.
U of M graduate Brent Neill said that it was an obvious choice for him to direct Martin’s WASP for the Black Hole Theatre Company, which is the Fort Garry campus’s theatre troupe. Neill is directing the play for the company’s second non-mainstage show of the school year, which is known as the Lunch B.H.A.G.G. (Black Hole Theatre Anarchist Group — someone typed an extra “g” by mistake and it remained in the name).
“I wanted to direct a play,” said the first-time director. “It seemed like a really good play to do. It’s absolutely hilarious. It’s absurdist theatre. There’s a lot of punch line comedy. It’s very sketch-like.”
Within the Saturday Night Live-like sketch comedy, WASP examines the difficulties of a family growing up in the 1950s as well as some of the traditional ideas that surround White Anglo Saxon Protestant culture.
“It’s a 1950s [household]. Sort of a skewered Leave It to Beaver,” said the Martin fan. “There’s a controlling dad, an eager-to-please son, an innocent daughter and the perfect mom.”
The deeper and darker themes of Martin’s writing are what make the play successful, said Neill.
“The contrast helps, so it works. You’ll be laughing. On the surface it’s funny, but you realize after how serious it is,” he said.
But between all the fun and laughter, Neill said there was one major task: managing the audio. As most Lunch B.H.A.G.G. productions involve a lot of characters, audio elements tend not to be too demanding for the large group of actors. But with WASP, there were a few characters who needed some audio magic in order to come to life on stage.
“Because there are a lot of characters that are audio-based, it gave the sound effects people a challenge,” said Neill.
Even with the difficulty of overseeing the audio, the director said it was a great experience.
“The actors and script made it fun,” said Neill. “It was a really good process.”
Catch WASP at the Black Hole Theatre, located in the basement of University College. The Wed. Oct. 19 show at 12:30 p.m. and the Thurs. Oct. 20 show at noon are free. (You are invited to bring your lunch.) The Wednesday Oct. 19 show at 7:30 p.m. has a $1 admission fee.
