Two of San Diego’s excellent small professional theaters, Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company and Moxie Theatre, mounted short engagements of comedies the first weekend in December.
Neither has a thing to do with Christmas, both are new works, and both are well produced and directed, rife with young actors and worthy of attendance. One comes away from these evenings assured that the future of San Diego Theatre is in good hands.
Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company presents Michael Golamco’s “Cowboy Versus Samurai” at Tenth Avenue Theatre (930 10th Ave., San Diego) through Dec. 16.
Taking a few cues from Edmund Rostand’s “Cyrano de Bergerac,” Golamco sets the work in Breakneck, Wyo., where there are only two Asian-Americans in town, Travis (Volt Francisco) the Korean-American high school English teacher and Chester (Eric “Pogi” Sumangil), his militant sidekick who worships Bruce Lee. Because Chester is adopted, he doesn’t know his heritage. Both are extremely appealing as they search for identity and love. The other male is Del (Paul Morgan Stettler), a clueless dude ranch employee, part-time physical ed teacher, and a native of Breakneck whose racist attitudes and dull nature are tolerated by the others. Along comes another Korean-American who hails from New York. All three men promptly fall in love with her, each for a different reason.
Travis believes that Veronica (cute and pert Zandi de Jesus) prefers Caucasian men. Tired of being objectified, she’s escaping the big city to discover who she is following a string of bad romances. Del is smitten and inarticulate, so Travis writes the zaniest love letters in the world. She is won and Travis is heartbroken.
Golamco, who lives in Los Angeles, is definitely a playwright to watch. He writes glib dialogue and creates believable though ” in this case ” intentionally stereotyped characters. Despite the comedy, each character deals with important life/racial issues. Mo’olelo’s new associate director Kimber Lee’s first outing as a director is impressive. David Weiner’s scenic design, Jason Bieber’s lighting and Jeremy Siebert’s sound manage to create a sense of place (the projections are marvelous), and Jennifer Brawn Gittings’ costumes are bang-on appropriate.
Tickets and information: (619) 342-7395 or visit www.moolelo.net.
Moxie Theatre presents Kathryn Walat’s “Victoria Martin: Math Team Queen,” recently produced off-Broadway last January at the prestigious Women’s Project. Playing only through Dec. 16 at the Lyceum Space, 79 Horton Plaza, it’s an excruciatingly funny teenage angst play that deals with a serious issue faced by brainy women as they grow up, especially now, when everyone isn’t trained to be June Cleaver.
Victoria Martin (charming Nicole Monet) describes herself as “totally, undisputedly popular” even though she’s not a cheerleader (her two best friends, Jen and Jen, are). Though just a sophomore, she dates Longwood High’s basketball star, doesn’t like English, and doesn’t have time to read “The Diary of Anne Frank,” dismissively saying, “The diary of a young girl? Oh, really.”
Gifted mathematically, Victoria is also “totally smart” and finds herself the only female on the all-male Math Team due to the recent departure of Sanjay Patel, who was expected to sweep Longwood High into the state math team finals. The four guys ” an appealing range of geeks ” are dubious. Hormones and propinquity erupt, and as the senior, MIT-bound Peter (adorable Tim Parker) declares his love for Victoria, Max (Jesse Allen Moore) declares he wants to kiss Franklin (Joseph Dionisio), who’s been his friend since childhood. Meanwhile, Jimmy, the freshman geek (exceptional comedian Luke Marinkovich) has a terrible, embarrassing accident at the basketball game.
In Jennifer Eve Thorn’s capable hands, this youthful company is “totally” believable. Walat has written clearly defined, likable kids who learn and grow over the course of the play. You’ll take them home in your hearts. Once again, Jennifer Brawn Gittings creates “with it” clothes for these kids, and Mia Bane’s scenic and lighting design is facile and effective. This one’s a real winner, folks.
For tickets and information, (619) 544-1000, www.moxietheatre.com.