Live in the Great Uterus of Womynhood.
It does not take much to make me laugh for a few hours at a time, just two genius comedians, one of the funniest scripts ever written, excellent sound effects and I’m all yours. Theatre Schmeater’s production of Parallel Lives, written by Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimi along with two extremely talented actresses, oops, I mean actpersons kept me in stitches for about two hours.
A series of 18 comic vignettes, Parallel Lives spoofs just about every aspect of life as a modern female. The show opens with two female angels, in heaven, designing sexual dimorphism in the new species: human beings. The vignettes each show how sexual differences influence behavior.
There was the awkward first date of a Frat boy and a nervous freshman, hilarious jokes about tampons, tough broads watching what seemed to be a female Roller Derby match, difficult relationships between sisters at grandma’s funeral, vegetarians, as well as the pièce de la résistence: a feminist performance piece sketch, spoofing the feminist religious movement of the early 90’s . In addition, there was also a Disney mother’s support group, in which the mothers of characters such as Cinderella, Bambi, Nemo etc. tells their tales of woe about their abandoned mother-less children.
Megan Ahiers and Jennifer Chadwick were perhaps the two funniest, most talented comics I have ever seen, who with very little costuming could swiftly change characters, gender, body language, facial expression and accents, which ranged from Brooklynese to Redneck, pretentious Shakespearean English to Valley Girl and Beverly Hills matronspeak. Their comic timing was impeccable and they had great chemistry between them.
The first half of the show was better than the second half, the second half had some rather tragic sketches which, although powerful scenes in themselves, made me rather sad. Watching two alcoholics destroy themselves with booze was not my idea of funny, but the sheer acting gymnastics involved when Chadwick portrayed a maudlin drunk cowboy was well worth staying for.
Although the costumes, by Jordan Christianson, were simple, just a quick change of a hat or shawl, they conveyed enough about the characters to make them believable. With so many different sketches, it was necessary to make the set changes interesting, the director chose music which “introduced” the subject matter of the sketch, so no time was wasted on unnecessary exposition. Theatre Schmeater’s space is not right for every play, there are some real disadvantages such as the two pillars in the middle of the space; however these disadvantages were turned to advantages by the material and the set designer, the pillars were incorporated into the set and facilitated the quick costume and character changes and the intimacy of the small space worked in its favor.
For sheer quality of entertainment and tour-de-force acting, this show and these two talented womyn could take this show anywhere. It is a must see
Parallel Lives by Mo Gaffney and Kathy Njimy. Theater Schmeater, 1500 Summit Ave. Capitol Hill, Seattle, WA. July 27, 28, Aug 3, 4, 10 & 11. 8:00 pm. www. Brownpapertickets.com/event/222966. 1 (800) 838-3006