NO PLACE LIKE GANDERSHEIM

A terrific cast score plenty of laughs in No Place Like Gandersheim, Elizabeth Dement’s time-traveling screwball feminist farce, but the Skylight Theatre World Premiere tries too hard to do too much for it to work the way it should.

Act One of Dement’s 90-minute play takes us back to a 10th-century German monastery run by Abbess Berga (Shannon Holt), who’s none too pleased when Sister Madlen (Lauren Gaw) informs her that the play which Canoness Roz (Jamey Hood) has written features a scene in which Madlen’s character “fondles pots and pans in an improper manner.”

Roz, who entered the Abbey after her husband’s death, may insist that what she’s written is an “ode to the power of Jesus Christ and the unwavering piety of women,” but there’s no way Abbess Berga will allow a “vulgar, fleshly, immodest, corporal, carnal, lewd, wanton” theatrical piece to be performed in front of her uncle Otto, aka the Holy Roman Emperor, even if his Greek teen bride Theophanu (Charrell Mack) comes from a country where pagan plays are probably the norm.

Act Two fast-forwards us to Hollywood circa 2023, where Roz is now the showrunner of a semi-successful network series about 10th-century German nuns called “The Order,” a show that sounds an awful lot like what we’ve just been watching, and unfortunately for Roz, seems on the verge of cancelation after the #metoo ouster of network president Otto, that is unless Roz does as Otto’s female replacement Mallory (Holt again) suggests and adds more sex to the all-female mix.

Complicating matters for lesbian single mom Roz are her rebellious teenage daughter Thea (Gaw) and her ambitious assistant Kaya (Mack), who’s written a script for a half-hour situation comedy she calls “Swipe Right,” and who wouldn’t mind stepping into Roz’s shoes, even if it means going behind her boss’s back.

Act Three jumps centuries ahead to a futuristic society where people like Vita (Mack) can “upload” themselves, presumably to attain immortality, and if Vita, who looks 25 despite being three times that age, is any example, achieve eternal youth. (Vita raves that since being uploaded, “I can eat till I burst, vacation in Fiji and New York at the same time, don’t have to sleep, have 14 different genders to choose from …” and be “finally in charge of my life and happy 100 percent of the time.”)

If it’s not already clear, No Place Like Gandersheim covers a lot of territory in just ninety minutes, and in this reviewer’s opinion, Dement’s play ends up too “all over the place” to prove a satisfying whole.

That’s not to say that individual elements don’t have their charm.

It’s a hoot to hear medieval nuns talking as if it were 2023, and a treat to hear Holt’s Berga gargle out such guttural German names as Master Handelshmacher, Sister Flugmeister, and Father Zungenbrecher.

Act Two’s spot-on commentary on women’s roles today’s Hollywood doesn’t gloss over the backstabbing that can make female coworkers their own worst enemies.

And Act Three, while too far out there to hit the mark, it does feature more than a few laughs.

There can be no quibbling about the performances elicited by director Randee Trabitz.

Hood is a ditzy delight as Roz no matter which time zone she’s in, Gaw and Mack create five vividly rendered characters between them, and the divine Holt once again proves that no one does quirky more deliciously quirkily than she does.

Deanne Millais has designed a multiple-arched set that morphs from Abbey to office, and Shannon Barondeau’s expert lighting and psychedelic video design are major plusses as are Mylette Nora’s period/contemporary-religious/secular costumes, Joyce Hutter’s varied array of props, and Alma Reyes-Thomas’s crisp sound design.

No Place Like Gandersheim is produced by Gary Grossman. Tyree Marshall is associate producer. Casting is by Victoria Hoffman. Jennifer Palumbo is stage manager.

Skylight Theatre deserves a round of applause for programming a season focusing on “Her Vision, Her Voice,” and for assembling an all-female creative and production team for No Place Like Gandersheim. Ultimately, however, Elizabeth Dement’s play proves too ambitious for its own good.

Skylight Theatre, 1816 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles.
www.skylighttheatrecompany.com

–Steven Stanley
May 27, 2023
Photos: Jenny Graham

 

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