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Hell Hath No Furyr
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Hell Hath No Fury
By Jonathon Freeman-Anderson

Hell Hath No Fury recently premiered at Actors Workout Studio located at 4735 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, shows at 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 2pm on Sundays. Reserve tickets online at www.abovethecurvetheatre.com, or by calling 310-486-0051.

The play is one of the most ridiculous, idiotic, and silly pieces of theatre to ever be presented for a live audience. The acting is absolutely a phenomenal effort on behalf of every actor on the stage who agreed to perform this script to the best of their abilities. The collective effort of all the women on stage pushing these characters to their figurative limit is the only saving grace for this comedic monstrosity. The punch lines are effectively delivered by the actors, creating fully fleshed out, well-defined characters, but they have to struggle to maintain the energy required to make the jokes work. It's not the actors' fault that script is so awful, but they did have a choice in picking this production as their next work. Erica Bauer, an Above the Curve Theatre board member, and Hell Hath No Fury actress excuses the play by saying that, "there aren't as many female heavy plays out there as there should be and comedies sell better." This might be true, but there has to be at least one better female-role heavy play out there than this trash.

The story goes that six characters; the moral lawyer, the good Christian, the British punk criminal, the homemaker, the cheerleader, and the party planner, come together to single out their lover, Max, and make him pay for his relationship infidelity and sexist methods. They tie up Max and before anyone can say playboy, he dies. The question comes up to who did it, maybe he did it to himself, either way, according to the lawyer, "the police must be called." So the other girls hide the lawyer's cell phone. With all the talk of murder and police, the punk criminal goes into frenzy, pulling a knife on the other five women. Running all around being chased, the punk makes a scene, and is eventually turned around and tied up at knife point by the cheerleader. The girls put the punk in the backroom with the Christian girl who's been in prayer since the murder. The lawyer has a gun, but they hit the lawyer over the head, toss the gun in the punch, throw her in the backroom too, and put Max in a chair, dressing him up "Weekend at Bernie's"-style like a cowboy. Just then, a police officer shows up, so they throw a rug over Max. Upon completing his inspection, the cheerleader convinces the officer that the women are just playing a game about scaring someone so much that they defecate themselves. The Christian comes out to confess to murdering Max; pulling the rug off Max, but the cop thinks it's just a gag and leaves. Suddenly, for no particular reason, the cheerleader dies. To determine if the cheerleader killed Max and then herself, the homemaker gets the idea to hold a séance and bring the cheerleader's soul back. Up, would anyone believe it, the séance makes all the characters switch bodies, not once, but twice, and the punk criminal gets the good Christian's body drunk in the process. When everything is arranged, body and soul, correctly, the lawyer is now dead. Not to spoil the ending completely, and say exactly who the murderer is, but the play ends with the appropriate final line of this poor excuse for camp comedy being "Yuck." Charles Ludlam, founder of ridiculous theater, is rolling in his grave with this schlock having stage space to exist upon. He would not find this play a farce, absurd, or ridiculous…rather, it would be simply dumb.

Above the Curve Theatre, founded in Los Angeles, CA May 2006, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering female artists and strengthening the community. The ensemble provides a place where both female and male performing artists can cultivate their talents and give back to their communities.

For more information on the Hell Hath No Fury or Above the Curve Theatre please visit www.abovethecurvetheatre.com or www.my-space.com/abovethecurvetheatre. For reservations call: 310-486-0051. Tickets cost $10 with reservation or $15 at the door Above the Curve Theatre presents Hell Hath No Fury, written and directed by Ben Gillman, this March at Actor's Workout Studio in North Hollywood. Gillman wrote Hell Hath No Fury with the actors of Above the Curve Theatre in mind, playing to their unique talents and comic sensibilities.

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