Saturday, December 6th, 2008

(Transcript from East Boston Times-Free Press, The Revere Journal, The Winthrop Sun Transcript, and The Everett Independent. Published November 20, 2008.)

X MINUS ONE A SCI-FI HIT

By Sheila Barth

Sometimes, things aren’t what they seem, especially in stage adaptations of an old 1950s science-fiction radio series. Daring young theater company, Counter-Productions, has left its earthly boundaries and entered the world of the unknown, the surreal, the ironic, taking us with them on an exciting, two-hour, three 30-minute episodes futuristic ride.

The group selected George Lefferts’ “The Parade,” an ironic play about a Martian invasion in New York City that’s on the same plane as mass hysterics-evoking Orson Welles’ terrifying program “War of the Worlds” in 1938; Murray Leinster’s wild and wacky “A Logic Named Joe,” and JT MacIntosh’s “Hallucination Orbit,” that are both in the same genre of Rod Serling’s 1959-1964 successful, creepy TV series, “The Twilight Zone”. Each episode is separated by two 10-minute intermissions.

Counter-Productions Theatre, a multi-talented group many of whom were spawned at Salem State College’s acclaimed drama department, raised eyebrows and critical attention last June with its production “Glengarry Glen Ross”. The group is doing all that and more in this latest production that ends Sunday.

Besides being a talented group of actors, they work magic, converting a small space at black box Piano Factory Theatre into a 1950s office in Manhattan, a futuristic company office (in 1974) and a one-man outpost on Pluto.

Time flies swiftly in all three episodes beamed as radio programs, deft-ly directed by Newburyport resident Brian McCarthy. The group makes great use of an upper tier and simple props, relying on the actors’ abilities and impressive eye-popping special effects provided by lighting designer Jess Schneider and realistic sound effects - piped-in radio broadcasts, stir-ring dramatic music, lift-offs and blast-offs, crowd, bleeping outer space and robotic sounds -designed by actor Ted Clement.

In “The Parade,” Clement is razzle-dazzle, fast-talking promoter Syd Ryan, who thinks he organized a huge special, surprise promotion with a parade down Fifth Avenue, using 150 movie extras and related events, for a 20th Century sci-fi movie about an invasion of the Martians. Ryan is overwhelmed when the surprise is on him – and the world. The supporting cast is equally effective, save actor Anthony Dangerfield, who as radio announcer Ken Daily, speaks too softly and too quickly to be discernible at times.

Episode Two, “A Logic Named Joe,” features Clement as Mr. DeMarco, a futuristic, simpleton dad with a wild son named Freddy (well played by Gregory Glenn), who comes to a Logics store to buy a machine that does everything, other than breathe for its patrons, but includes built-in safeguards. The machines suddenly reprogrammed themselves, creating terrifying havoc. Ian Conway as concerned Logics employer Frank Caldwell does a great job here, as does Nathan Seavey as Frank’s complacent coworker, Mike, and Rob Gustison as a bullying police sergeant. Devon Scalisi as Archibald the drunk is a riot.

Scalisi does a full turn in the starring role of astronaut Collin Orde in Episode Three, “Hallucination Orbit,” who has been alone for 6-1/2 years at Pluto Station outpost 3, unaware he is about to be rescued, deprogrammed, and returned to the US. He struggles with distinguishing hallucinations from reality, seeing girlfriends, visiting airships, fighting off the dreaded “solitosis,” (losing his mind from his long-term solitude). The rest of the troupe – Jennifer Lindquist, Alison Meirowitz, Meghan Hamilton, Joye Thaller – are also colorful.