"Shear Medness" is a hair raising experience
By Sarah Warner and Brad Hays
So what is to become of the dance music scene in San Jose? The answer is yet to be determined, but DJ Harry Who? of Solid Grooves definitely has something up his sleeve. Until then, the scene will be been bleak. This weekend, we decided to lighten our spirits and culture our minds by going to the theatre. Well, what we expected to be an evening of kicking back to some silly jokes and slapstick comedy a la Lucille Ball, turned out to be a riotous adventure in the internationally acclaimed whodunit black comedy, "Shear Madness."
Don't let the small, intimate Mason Theater fool you into thinking this is a small-time, low-budget, low quality production written by a pair of starving artists. "Shear Madness" was actually acknowledged by the "Guiness Book of World Records" as one of the longest running plays in American theater history. It is not hard to see why. The script, originally written by the German playwright Paul Portner and adapted by Jordan and Abrams, dates back to 1963 but is structured in a flexible, timeless way and readapted for different cities and time periods. Of course, being in San Francisco, the dialogue was full of San Francisco and Bay area references.
Take Tony, the sassy homosexual hair dresser from the Castro district. When he accidentally smooches one of the cops during a chaotic moment, the mortified cop mutters something under his breath only to have Tony shout back, "Hey, that's a San Francisco treat, baby!" The script was also adapted to fit the current times with references to Tony's cats Bill and Hilary. Tony also finds himself pleading with the cops that he has glaucoma when they tell him they found "the pot," actually referencing a pot of goulash.
The cast is comprised of only six members who remain on stage for most of the performance. The entire play takes place in a unisex hair salon run by the tawdry Barbara DeMarco (Sally Dana) and the flamboyant and stereotypical homosexual Tony Whitcomb (Michael Patrick). Two regulars visit the salon, Eddie Lawrence (David Berkson), a shady antique dealer, and Mrs. Shubert (Lee Ann Manley), a wealthy matron who knows all of the well-to-dos in San Francisco. Both have more "affairs" on their agenda than just a quick hair cut. Enter two other gentlemen, who casually fall prey to Tony's scatterbrained and emotionally charged shave and a haircut techniques. Confusion and mass hysteria culminates as the concert pianist who lives above the salon begins to once again play her dreary songs of yesterday, sending Tony and Barbara into a hysterical frenzy of confusion and concern over burnt goulash and quieting the obnoxious pianist. Before we know it, the two unknown gentlemen are yelling "Freeze!" with gun in hand and Barbara is running through the door screaming about blood everywhere, the famous concert pianist is dead.
As we squirm in our seats to tear to the bathrooms for intermission, our plans are delayed as the unknown gentlemen call for the house lights and introduce themselves as San Francisco policemen Nick Rosetti (Andrew Hurteau) and Mikey Thomas (David Gunderman). Rosetti then explains to us that we are eye witnesses to murder and that he would be available for questioning during intermission, which he was.
The second act attempts to crack the case, and the play is reenacted voluntarily by the actors. The audience has a chance to catch the characters lying and to uncover their secret motives. At this point the audience is asked to vote, and we will not give away the rest, even though the end differs depending on the audience - oops!
"Shear Madness" is a hilarious comedy. Between the flamboyant antics of Tony, the slew of one-liners, and the enormous energy of this talented cast, "Shear Madness" is guaranteed to make you laugh, but be careful, you could die laughing.