FronteraFest Bring-Your-Own-Venue 2011 Review: Portmanteau at the Vortex Cafe [Theater]

Five strangers have come to town, each with his or her own purpose, each removing belongings from a backpack, a suitcase. They explore, interact, form alliances, become rivals. Their behavior, their manner of speaking, even their very words may seem familiar to the audience. This is Portmanteau, created by Applied Mechanics, at the Vortex Cafe for FronteraFest 2011. The ensemble hails from Philadelphia, and frankly, the 1,600 mile trip was worth it. This “invasion play” strikes a rare balance in unconventional, interactive-ish theater: by using a relatively small space, and sticking to a pretty straightforward narrative built on familiar found texts, this hour-ish piece allows the audience member to get into the action without being forced to get too close (hear that, Ben Brantley?)

Film buffs will enjoy picking out snatches of the work of Paul Thomas Anderson and Lars von Trier, and there are also bits of Tennessee Williams, Radclyffe Hall, Tom Robbins, and Anna Swir, among others. The actors make their characters clear and often exciting to watch: there's an earth mother, a businessman, a glamorous woman, a filmmaker, and a desperate immigrant, and they've all got their desires and fears. (My favorite was Mary Tuomanen as Verna Werzog -- her sendup of the famous film director during one of his most infamous shoots is priceless.) The actors create the set, arranging their belongings around the cafe - you decide whether to sit beside one person, follow another, and whether to accept an offered morsel of food.

In this type of play, each audience member has the chance to make discoveries as they choose, so I hesitate to reveal much of the plot, but suffice it to say that the word “invasion” fits for thematic as well as formal reasons. If you've never partaken in a play that combines audience and performer space, this is a good place to start, but if you're already a fan of the stuff, it's unlike that you'll be bored. The two remaining performances are tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. The 10 dollar admission price is well worth it.