Review: WARPSTAR SEXY SQUAD Over the Moon!
Through 3/7 / Thu-Sat @8pm
The Off Center (2211-A Hidalgo)
$15, $10 students ($5 off with sci-fi costume)
[info] | [tickets]
Only they did it. They really, really did it. And if you are foolish enough to miss this show, you have only yourself to blame. Because this is possibly the best locally-created production to hit Austin in a very long time. Warpstar is for everyone from sci-fi fanatics to those who hate the genre so much they’d contemplate spending a Saturday marching in front of the Capitol with placards demanding laws banning the creation of anything that smacks of the future. And if you ever dated a sci-fi head and feigned tolerance for what you real considered a sick and childish addiction to bullshit, guess what? You might like Warpstar best of all.
The evening begins with an explanation of the “rules,” for Warpstar isn’t just your run-of-the-mill musical comedy sci-fi adventure. It’s also an audience participation piece (read: drinking game). BYOB and throw back shots during key moments when certain words are uttered. Not that you need to be drunk to laugh. Oh no.
Besides elements from every sci-fi source you can name (and plenty some of us might not be able to) there are other great references thrown in from Shakespeare’s woman scorned archetype to advice from the Beatles and even a nod (possibly unintentional but nonetheless most excellent) to some Russ Meyer-esque steamy hot bad ‘n busty babes gone wild.
Speaking of Meyer, Erin Molson as Dr. Snuggles, Druidianica’s evil sidekick kitty, gives new life to the concept faster pussycat, kill, kill. While every single cast member delivers a terrific performance, Molson gets extra kudos for some totally over-the-top moments.
A Chorus of five “Crew Ops” dressed in blue tube skirts that look like they were designed by members of Devo and the Michelin Man provide ongoing amusement and mirth. Dodwell plays Agent Z to a faux-serious T. Doyle as Captain Flash T Skywalker has several pat-wettingly funny moments tearing down the fourth wall. And Lucy Jennings will make you spit your teeth out. Letty Leal as Atana Kyss does a priceless send up of every bimbo sexpot ever written into a sci-fi scene to prompt geekboy masturbation fantasy. And Rachel Martsolf provides the perfect balance to Leal’s lasciviousness as Phyllis, the girl all the boys treat like a guy, much to her chagrin. She and Morgan’s Moses deliver a great exchange as they conspire to teach the excellently cast Anthony Vargas—playing Peorge the clueless teen boy—how to be a man.
Maggie Wilhite, Peorge’s unrequited love Murraine, does a great turn as a fledgling, suddenly bi-curious teen from the 1950’s Midwest. When she proclaims that Druidianica, upon whom she is fixated, is like a prize fish—“I don’t know whether to eat your or mount you!”— well, talk about your priceless moments in theater.
Another line uttered in the play—This is a big fucking deal!— defines the production itself. Oh sure it seems super light and über silly, but honestly, to bring all these components together— sustained hilarity, crème de la camp, physical comedy so purposefully melodramatic it transcends, naughty witty lyrics, and a live band—no really, this is a big fucking deal. (And bonus points to the writers for the Mary Wollstonecraft reference.)
“An absolute must see,” might sound like a cliché recommendation, but how else can we insist you go check out this brilliant performance that explores the final frontier of every single sci-fi cliché that ever crashed into our lives?
