The Sibling Connection
Have you ever watched a movie with your folks, only to discover that it’s full of raunchy humour? As much as you try to keep a straight face, somewhere in the middle, you let out the most horrifying snort of laughter. Even worse, so do your parents. For the average theatregoer in Victoria (think white hair and walkers), seeing Legoland at the Phoenix Theatre might be uncomfortable – it’s certainly not a night out at the Belfry. But for the twenty-somethings in the audience, this demented play is full of jokes about what makes us who we are.
Legoland, written and co-directed by Jacob Richmond, is Atomic Vaudeville’s ninth mounting of this hilarious satire of consumer culture. The play has won plenty of awards, including Critic’s Choice in Vancouver and Victoria, and Best New Play at the Toronto Summerworks Festival. The show runs as the UVic theatre department’s Alumni Series until the 19th, and delves into the minds of Penny and Ezra Lamb. The pair are teenaged siblings who take the audience on a bizarre journey from the hippie commune where they grew up, to Legoland, the world outside.
When Penny and Ezra are police-escorted home for faking seizures at Wal-Mart, the cops discover that the commune is actually a large-scale marijuana grow-op. The kids are sent to boarding school, where Penny struggles to fit in. That’s when Penny discovers 7-Up, a boy band not unlike the Backstreet Boys or N Sync, and falls in love with one of their members, Johnny Moon.
Celine Stubel and Amitai Marmorstein are completely synchronized in their portrayal of Penny and Ezra. The acting is so refined that it’s no wonder the two have starred in dozens of productions of Legoland, and one of the many reasons why this play works so well. This is absolutely necessary considering the fact that the dialogue and action are fast-paced. While it’s hard to believe that the actors are not actually siblings, Marmorstein outshines Stubel as the drug-pushing younger brother with his puppet shows and nihilistic philosophies. Although Stubel’s character drives the narrative and plays the heart-breaking innocence of a 16-year-old exquisitely, Marmorstein provides many of the belly laughs.
Technically, there were a couple of bumps in the production the night that I saw it. At times, the lighting was a concern. Puppets drifted in and out of spotlights that were intended to punctuate the action. At times, characters deliberately wandered in and out of the spots, but this was not always the case with the props, and lessened what could have been an effective use of spotlighting.
Costume changes were also rough. Because the hour-long play consists of one long scene and no intermission, the characters need to make use of what they have. The set is made up of a desk, two chairs, a projection screen, and a puppet stage. Marmorstein does many of his costume changes behind the desk, and in one instance, I missed a large portion of one of Stubel’s monologues because I was distracted by Marmorstein changing.
The technical glitches are tiny flaws in what is actually a gut-busting adventure. The play uses plenty of multimedia and props, and small malfunctions are to be expected. My biggest concern with using media on stage is always, is it necessary? I was delighted that the projection screen at the side of the stage was used to its full advantage. There is even a scene where Penny talks about her idol, Johnny Moon. As she is speaking, Penny travels behind the screen, which projects a large photo of him on the moon. Her shadow space-walks over to Moon’s shape, and she cups his face from behind the screen.
If I could seriously criticize anything, though, it would be the crowd. There were times that I roared with laughter while the rest of the audience barely let out embarrassed chuckles. Part of the fun for me was anticipating the other audience members’ reactions, and I understand why so many of them didn’t appreciate the humour. Legoland is intended for a younger audience, and most of the jokes are geared towards my age group – boy bands, McDonald’s, gangster rap. There’s even a Jeffrey Dahmer bit that made me wonder if I’d going to Hell for laughing.
Regardless, there were enough ironic twists, physical comedy, and consumer culture jokes to leave me satisfied. Don’t be fooled, though – Legoland is not a heavy-handed commentary on capitalist society, and if you know anything about pop culture, you’ll laugh.