Mountain View gets 'Snakebit' Mountain View gets 'Snakebit' (August 06, 2004)

Show is first for fledgling gay theater company

By Julie O'Shea

Michael is a former ballet dancer who is having a nervous breakdown because his lover left him for a younger man, and he's dangerously close to losing his job as a social worker.

Jonathan is Michael's best friend from childhood. He's straight, he's an actor, and he's also a total jerk.

Jenifer is Jonathan's insecure wife, who, interestingly enough, had a one-night stand with Michael years ago.

As fate would have it, the three find themselves holed up in Michael's Los Angeles bungalow for one nightmarish weekend.

This might sound like a storyline from daytime television, but in fact, it's the basis for the plot of "Snakebit," a comedy-drama by David Marshall Grant, which is being staged at the Mountain View Performing Arts Center from Aug. 5 through Aug. 22.

"The details sound a little soap opera-ish, and it's so not that," said Dale Albright, who plays Michael. "It's got some good theater moments, and (the plot) kind of sneaks up on you."

"Snakebit," which was nominated in 1999 for both Drama Desk and Critic's Circle awards, is Grant's first stab at playwriting. As complicated as his story may seem, Grant, an accomplished actor who appeared in television's "thirtysomething," assures us "Snakebit" has a very simple message.

"It's about that moment in life when one decides to be courageous. Or not," he once wrote about his work. "Mostly, it's about two men and a woman who love each other very much."

Albright promised the Mountain View production will be filled with both laughter and tears. He warned, however, that this show may not be one for the kids: "It's got some language in it."

This show marks the first production for Theatre Q, a fledging acting troupe whose mission is "to provide evolving images of gays and lesbians."

Jeffrey Hoffman, who plays Jonathan in "Snakebit," said he was tired of seeing the stereotypical way the stage portrayed gays: overly flamboyant and often naked. Frustrated, he and several of his friends in the Chicago area formed Theatre Q and begin staging shows using whatever space and props their sparse resources could afford. (For a long time they used Hefty garbage bags as stage curtains.) Their first endeavor was a production titled "An Evening of Fully Clothed Gay and Lesbian Theatre."

Shortly after Hoffman moved to California in early 2001, he begin looking into ways to regroup the defunct Theatre Q, which is when he joined forces with Albright and Dana Lewenthal, who he knew from grad school, and plays Jenifer.

"We are not really interested in doing the sensational kind of stuff," Albright said.

"Snakebit," Hoffman said, seemed like a logical first play for the company, which is already looking at scripts for its second season.

"'Snakebit' is about being stuck," Hoffman said. "I think it's a progression from plays of the early '80s -- the 'I'm gay, pity me' (type of shows.)"

The Mountain View production is being co-produced by CAPA and Dragon Productions. After Mountain View, the show will move to the Dean Lesher Performing Arts Center in Walnut Creek for a four-week run in October.

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

Information

What: CAPA, Dragon Production and Theatre Q present "Snakebit" by David Marshall Grant
Where: Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts' Second Stage, 500 Castro St.
When: Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m. Through Aug. 22.
Cost: $15-$20
Call: 903-6000

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