I love to head downtown to Dixon Place and see a performance with a subject that catches my eye. This location is home to a great deal of theatrical experimentation at wallet friendly prices. Gotta love an artistic director who encourages the audience to grab a drink before or after the show as the proceeds help them continue to support artists in development. This week I saw Space Race by writer and director Nicholas Gentile.
In this broad comedy, the Starship Apollo is traveling in low earth orbit as a vacation cruise liner. The period is the 1960’s when the United States and Russia were in the midst of their heated quest to be the first one to land on the moon. Neil Armstrong (David Malinsky) is the captain of this ship and he’s not the brightest. There is a spy onboard. His communications person is Olga, a woman with a thick Russian accent, hilariously embodied by Danielle Shimshoni. She avoids his repeated sexual overtures while he flails about attempting to be a leader.
The promise of Space Race reminded me of silly SNL skits from the 1970’s like Land Shark or the Coneheads. When everyone is committed, the goofiness can be truly memorable. Not all of the thruster rockets were fully operating in this piece. When the Americans accidentally crash land on the Starship Apollo, three iconic astronauts come aboard. Jaques Duvoisin was a solidly pompous Chuck Yaeger, the man who was first to exceed the speed of sound in flight. The caricature was dead on serious and very good. He was accompanied by Buzz (Michael Caizzi) and Collins (Patrick Harvey), one sporting a broque and the other a wide-eyed enthusiastic twinkle toes. All three were fun to watch.
There is an evil Senator (Terrence Montgomery) on this journey and also a German named Adolf (Victor Hazan) and his “feral South American mistress” Cutinga. Sarah Galvin was hilarious as this half-animal woman but she did not really have enough to do in the plot other than give us feral realness. For Space Race to soar higher, the level of these side characters have to be equalled within the main storyline which is lightly amusing but not inspired lunacy. Americans and Russians up to no good is prime fodder for our entertainment right now, especially in a light comedic package. A shirtless Russian, the mention of collusion and perhaps a send-up of the Trump/Putin Helsinki press conference might be worth a try.