This passes 'Inspection' This passes 'Inspection' (December 05, 2003)

Bus Barn offers inspired silliness for the holidays

By Jeanie Forte

When it comes to choosing a production to mount for the holidays, theaters basically have three options: one, they can go with a holiday chestnut, such as "A Christmas Carol" or "Miracle on 34th Street" -- something frothy, sweet, with an appropriate moralistic message; two, they can aim for the holiday antidote, such as one of the growing number of spoofs on the chestnuts-- irreverent, mocking exposes of holiday madness; or three, they can ignore the whole business, mount something that has no reflection on the holidays whatsoever, and hope people are sick enough of the usual holiday fare.

Oddly enough, theatergoers show no signs of being sick of the chestnuts. Audiences still flock to the "Carols" and "Nutcrackers," year after year. But surely there are some of us who have seen enough chestnuts to last a lifetime?

Bus Barn Stage Company's "Inspecting Carol" is a comedic riff on a fictional theater's perennial production of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." We learn early on that the theater banks on this production each year, literally, counting on its revenues to bolster the sagging ticket sales for the rest of the season. We also find out, along with artistic director Zorah Block (Lisa Wiseman), that the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is withholding its annual grant of $30,000 until it has proof the company is still worth its support.

The NEA has even warned it will send an inspector to observe and evaluate the company and when wannabe actor Wayne Wellacre (Jim Johnson) is assumed to be the NEA inspector working incognito, this sets the stage for hilarious parody. Mix in a quirky group of actors, a shoestring production budget, and a frustrated playwright or two, and you have a recipe for some very inebriated figgy pudding.

Bus Barn's production of this merry satire starts off unevenly with some cartoonish characterizations, but picks up steam as it rolls along. Some of the zany characters are a little too over-the-top. Comedy drawn in bold strokes needs to be played as straight as possible, otherwise it becomes caricature, and there are some instances where this production falls in that trap. But the wackiness grows on you, and there's enough laugh-out-loud humor to make up for its shortcomings.

By the time we reach the play within the play of the second act, there's a satisfying payoff in total fiasco, in the wildly wonderful breakdown of every possible production element. The actors can't get it right, the set falls apart and the finale manages to cold-cock the real inspector who has finally appeared.

The play ultimately skewers everything in sight, including political correctness, artistic pretension, novice acting, shameless huckstering, and the folly of arts funding via bureaucracy. Even the innocuous actors' warm-up gets a lively lampooning in one of the play's funniest scenes. The ending, while predictable, brings us full circle in the crazy world of theater and arts funding, and thankfully does not end with a treacly moral message.

Standouts in the cast include Wiseman as the long-suffering artistic director, dealing with one catastrophe after another-- when she offers herself to the faux inspector, she has a distinct Angelica Huston quality, purring darkly with pragmatic aplomb one moment and freaking out in the next.

Ray Renati, the put-upon financial manager, struggles with antiquated computing and a continually sinking bottom line, evolving from a straightforward businessman into a raw bundle of anxiety. Shannon Stowe and James Mantell are delightful as Dorothy and Sidney, consummate theater professionals who are oblivious in their single-minded self-preservation. Wayne Stribling, as Walter, the token diversification, delivers a nicely understated performance, hitting just the right notes of contempt and incompetence. Alicia Davidovitch is a solid depiction of the hapless stage manager. Most of the cast is well-suited and effective in their roles.

Johnson's wacko wannabe actor Wayne was a bit annoying at first, feeling forced and indulgent. But he settles down, and his delivery of the famous "winter of our discontent" monologue is priceless. Bill Olson's Larry also feels a bit pushed in places, but then, so does a lot of the show -- my preference would have been for a lighter hand throughout. Nevertheless, this didn't prevent me from laughing with glee along with the rest of the audience, especially during the second act.

There's no deep message; it's not Great Theater. But it's a bit of inspired silliness and might be just the antidote you need for too many overdone chestnuts.

"Inspecting Carol" will be presented through Dec. 20
by the Bus Barn Stage Company at the Bus Barn Theatre,
97 Hillview Ave. in Los Altos.
Regular show times are 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; 7 p.m. on Dec. 7; 8 p.m. on Dec. 14.
A discussion will take place on Dec. 5.
Individual tickets are $18-$28.
For more information please call 941-0551 or visit www.busbarn.org

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