Madness is in the midnight air and spectators can experience a 99-minute dose on Friday and Saturday nights for only $5 a pop.
“99 Minutes of Midnight Madness @ 11:11 p.m.,” a series of short theatrical pieces, each averaging 10 minutes in length, debuted Friday at the Lord Leebrick Theatre Company.
The simplistic and intimate atmosphere, with minimal props and distractions, puts the pressure on the actors to engage and hold the audience’s attention. But the LLTC pulls it off with a combination of compelling performances, precise direction and skits ranging from light-hearted to intense.
“Outscool” opens the show and reinforces the mood throughout the evening with original, live, jazzy music by Richard Leebrick on tenor sax, harmonica and vocals, Eric Colbin on bass guitar and Javier Gonzalez on percussion.
The opening piece, “Tango at the Santiago Hotel” by Lia Denae and directed by Carol Horne features Nancy West as a solitary performer portraying several kooky characters in a San Francisco boarding house. The quick, and sometimes indistinct, shifts from character to character made this number confusing and hard to follow. Luckily, it was no indication of what was to follow.
“Robot” by Daniel Durrant and directed by Dale Brabb finds Gary Lamoin as a disgruntled businessman building a robot to replace himself. As he engages in a late night conversation with a hobo, effectively portrayed by James Flagg, I was left wondering who had a better grip on reality.
In the next performance, “Vacations,” a youngster sitting at a bus stop finds herself positively influenced by the eccentricities of a woman living on the mental edge. This is a whimsical offering by Robert Wilson, directed by Tim Guetterman, featuring Sparky Roberts, Autumn Leebrick and Valerie McMahon.
Horne directs “Maggie” by Gretchen McMartin, with West ominously cast as Maggie, a woman haunted by her neighbor’s menacing voice — or is it the voice within her own head? In the end, this number left me unsettled by Maggie’s depression, questioning her sanity and stability.
A comedic number then makes an appearance, with Steven Mandell’s “The Cassowary Bird in the Afternoon.” Roberts directs here and the vignette features David Beck and McMahon in a dynamic performance as a mismatched couple brought together by a personal ad.
Larry Dobberstein’s “Coyote,” directed by Brabb, couples Lamoin and Brandon Burkeen as a pair of traveling musicians on the road to a footloose and fancy-free existence. Or so it appears, until Roberts makes a brief and telling appearance.
Under the direction of Michael Fisher, William Mastrosimone’s “Jujitsu” provides a chilling finish to the evening — it’s a piece you carry with you. This excerpt, from a work entitled “Blinding Light,” features McMahon in a gripping performance as a woman embittered by an endless succession of one-night stands, detailing her fool-proof strategies for foiling the ploys of the alpha males of the world.
All in all, the LLTC has crafted an engaging theater experience well worth the time and the money. The series, running through Sept. 2, consists of 17 individual skits divided into three separate sets. Each set will play for two weekends of the total six-week run. Tickets are available in advance or at the door. LLTC is located at 540 Charnelton St. Call 484-7670 for more information.