The seven one-acts that comprise Theatre of NOTE’s Distractions At The Crash Site: Short Plays by Steve Yockey are a mixed bag, and even at an intermissionless ninety minutes the West Coast Premiere runs about ten minutes too long, but Yockey fans will enjoy seeing the Wolves/Mercury playwright (and The Flight Attendant showrunner) in short-form mode.

Anyone who’s seen Yockey’s full-length plays will recognize the collection’s blend of whimsy, the supernatural, mythology, violence, fairytales, magic realism, sci-fi, and significant amounts of splattered blood as distinctively Yockey.

“Miss Evelyn Foxy & Low Orbit Anxiety” introduces us to suburban housewife Evelyn (Lisa Clifton), currently holding volunteer signature collector Mike (Trevor H Olsen) captive, or at least until the danger of an earth-orbiting satellite falling down from the sky has passed, despite the protestations of adult daughter Barbara (Sierra Marcks) and the arrival of shirtless pumped hunk Billy (Henry Cruz) for his latest “session” with Evelyn.

“Adorable Kitten Image Collapse” has a knife-wielding Ann Marie Adams, aka “@AnnMarieKittens from Twitter” (Cat Davis), bound and determined to wreak vengeance on Rick (Ron Morehouse), the Internet troll who’s been making her life a living hell, as Rick’s Lizard Brain (Cruz) and his Conscience (Joel Scher) vie for control over Ann Marie’s nemesis and a couple of Internet Gods (Clifton and Gabby Sanalitro) popping over for good measure.

The titular wildcat in “Go Get ‘em, Tiger!” is the zoo-dwelling jungle cat who scratched up John (Olsen) after the latter jumped into the tiger’s enclosure to fetch the purse John’s wife Linda (Marcks) accidentally dropped into it, much to the consternation of both the Zookeeper (Morehouse) and the rather adorable Tiger (Cruz) himself.

“Telephones & Bad Weather” has Brenda (Sanalitro) educating global warming denier Lavern (Eboigbe) on the difference between climate and weather as a storm rages outside, a disconnected phone keeps ringing, a trio of Disciples (Clifton, Davis, and Morehouse) splash water on themselves until someone picks up the receiver, and a booming voice at the other end of the line instructs Brenda’s husband Scott (Olsen) to build an ark “before the floods.”

The ghost of a bunny killed by his boyfriend haunts Gabe (Scher) in “Fluff,” though Gabe is about to learn that the aforementioned bunny may not be the only one of Benjamin’s animal victims to be lain to rest in their pet cemetery of a back yard, as we are informed by Greek Chorus members Eboigbe, Marcks, and Sanalitro, chiming in from time to time in perfect sync.

“Joshua Consumed An Unfortunate Pear” has Joshua (Cruz) eating one of the “magical immortality pears” he has gathered much to the consternation of his wife Amelia (Grace Eboigbe), who’d much rather her husband be a better, more attentive lover then head off in search of eternal life. (Chorus members Davis, Morehouse and Scher and Marcks as a red-clad Death provide useful information along the way.)

Last up is “I Buried Doug Biggers Alive But He’s Probably Dead By Now,” the tale of housewife Diane Biggers (Clifton), who has done exactly what the play’s title suggests, though whether Doug has breathed his last breath (or not quite yet) remains open to question. (Davis’ Cindy Elk, Eboigbe’s Babs Chirp, Morehouse’s Max Hummel, Sanalitro’s Amber Mills, and Scher’s platinum-bewigged Flip Barnes complete the cast.)

I loved “Low Orbit Anxiety” and “Go Get ‘em, Tiger!,” the other playlets somewhat less, and I would have been satisfied leaving it at six one-acts in all, eliminating the last (and longest) of the bunch, though I understand director Ryan Bergmann’s decision to keep the violence-and-destruction levels rising, and “I Buried Doug Biggers…” definitely allows him to do just that.

Indeed, it’s Bergmann’s ingenious vision (and a cast that gets to show off an abundance of versatility) that make Distractions At The Crash Site more than just a grab-bag of Steve Yockey mini-plays.

It’s fun to witness what happens to Amanda Knehans’ Greek-pillared set as the evening progresses, Matt Richter scores his own design points for lighting and sound, Mariah Harrison and Emory Royston show off huge amounts of imagination with her costumes and his masks, and since these are Yockey plays, it’s a plus to have fight choreographer Celina Lee Surniak around to stage the stage violence.

Distractions At The Crash Site: Short Plays by Steve Yockey is produced by Clifton, Niall Sulcer, and Kirsten Vangsness. Peter Newell is stage manager. Brad C. Light, Rebecca Light, Edward Moravcsik, and Krista Conti are understudies.

In the same way that novels sell more copies than short story collections, and outside of the festival circuit, you’d be hard-pressed to find your local cinema programming shorts over feature films, staged one-acts aren’t the easiest sell, which is probably there aren’t all that many shows like Theatre of NOTE’s latest.

Though my first choice where Steve Yockey is concerned would be revisit either Wolves or The Fisherman’s Wife or Very Still And Hard To See or Mercury (all of which I’ve raved about), Yockey fans will recognize elements of each of these in Distractions At The Crash Site: Short Plays by Steve Yockey, making it worth at least a look-see.

Theatre of NOTE, 1517 N. Cahuenga, Hollywood.
www.theatreofnote.com

–Steven Stanley
May 2, 2024
Photos: Brad C. Light

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Tags: Los Angeles Theater Review, Steve Yockey, Theatre Of NOTE