FEW hours of local theater have passed as quickly as last night's opening night presentation of "Brainstormers" by Loose Screws at the Moiliili Community Center.Director Sean T.C. O'Malley and his six colleagues made improvisation look easy as they created a viable one-act play out of audience suggestions, two plastic chairs and their own imaginations. Local improv has never looked more promising. Local theater has rarely been more fun.
Audience suggestions included "a spring morning," "a road trip" and a character named Arlo. The cast took those raw ingredients and created a story of life, love and sibling rivalry among the members of a dysfunctional southern white trash family in Massachusetts.
Arlo (Tony Pisculli) and his wife (Shannon Winpenny) hit the road to visit her mother (Julia Gilman) but run out of gas. They eventually find a gas station but it has just gone out of business; turns out it is owned by three other members of the family (O'Malley, R. Kevin Doyle and Stephanie Sanchez). Young Tommy (O'Malley) sought sanctuary with his grandma (Gilman) and Uncle Abner (Michelle de la Cruz) )) the season somehow changed from spring to late November. Oh well.
That lapse of continuity aside, the dramatic elements worked well. The comic interplay was excellent. The chairs sufficed as props; Doyle and O'Malley distinguished themselves in physically creating the impression of walking up a long flight of stairs from the dank depths of a basement apartment.
Sanchez gave a gem of a performance as the trashiest member of the clan; what an actress! She and Winpenny were the catalysts of several dramatic outbursts between bickering sisters. Doyle and O'Malley also contributed expansive comic characters to the proceedings.
But that was last night's improvisation. "Brainstormers" will be evolving into something completely different tonight and tomorrow even if the audience again suggests a character named Arlo. Expect those one act plays to be equally fast, fascinating and entertaining.
In fact, placed in historical perspective, "Brainstormers" is one of the most refreshing local productions since Jan Itamura and Margaret Jones created "A Period Piece" at the Lizard Loft four years ago. The Honolulu theater scene needs more shows like this.
Hopefully the small audience last night reflects the problems of a late-starting, week-night opening in an unknown venue. The performance space is on the second floor of a small building across from Star Market on South Beretania. It is slightly bigger than a modern living room and the sense of watching friends in a private home is heightened by a sign at the door requesting that footwear be left outside.
What: "Brainstormers," improvisational performances by Loose Screws