OK, we're getting near the end of "Serials 2: Thunderdome," a theater journey that has been as entertaining as it has been frustrating. In case you haven't experienced Know Theatre's experiment in episodic theater, here's how it has worked.
Back on Feb. 2, we got to see five 15-minute plays. At the end of the evening, we - the audience - voted on which three we wanted to keep. The two shows with the fewest number of votes were booted out and replaced two weeks later by two new shows. It has continued that way ever since.
Episode 4 unfolded Monday night.
Once again, "Andy's House of [BLANK]," written (and composed) by Trey Tatum and Paul Strickland and directed by Bridget Leak has been my audience favorite. Obviously, others have liked it, too, as it has been in the running since the very first week.
It has been a standout from the beginning. It was polished, well-rehearsed and clearly conceived, qualities that most of the other shows lacked. In fact, it's safe to say that this show has single-handedly raised the bar for the entire series. (Photo of Trey Tatum by Christine Wands.)
"Andy's" is a wonderfully curious tale that toys around with time, love, longing and the emotional prisons we build for ourselves. Sounds grim, I know. But it's funny, in a wry and smart sort of way.
Tatum and Strickland provide the music, whaling away at an old upright piano like a pair of grizzled honky-tonk regulars who pay off their bar bills by knocking off a few songs every night. And when they stand up and actually talk to the crowd, it's more like they're storming the stage. Their performances are frenetic, fire-and-brimstone sort of things. Personally, I think they're fabulous.
There is a story, about a lonely guy - Andy, played by Chris Richardson - who runs an oddball curiosity shop and his relationship with Sadie (Erika Kate McDonald), the unrequited love of his life. Sadie wanders in at 3 p.m. every day, drops off an electronic contraption that belonged to her dad, then heads off to a party where everyone is killed by a fire.
Then she re-appears the next day at 3. And the next day. And the next.
It's bizarre, of course. But it's melancholy, too, and thoughtful and endlessly interesting.
It got my vote.
So did a new entry called "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Loss," written by Alexx Rouse and Robert Macke and directed by Nate Netzley.
Rarely has such an eccentric show looked so comfortable in its skin.
Andy Simpson plays Albert, an over-sized kid who, despite his naivete, seems wise beyond his years. Of course, there's the possibility that he's not a kid at all. Maybe he's just a slow-witted and childish adult. After a minute or two, I stopped concerning myself about what he is because I didn't really care. I just couldn't stop watching his performance. None of that appalling hey-look-at-me-I'm-a-kid stuff. Just a wonderful candor.
His mother Jocelyn is played by Nate Doninger. Jocelyn is nervous, controlling when she needs to be and almost certainly in an altered state of mind. The fact that there's a man wearing a lousy wig playing the role means . . . well, again, who knows? (Photo of Andy Simpson, L, and Nate Doninger by Christine Wands.)
Does Andy know his mom is a man? Or is Jocelyn a man? Maybe this is just a drag role? Or something else. I didn't spend too much time fretting about it, because I didn't really care. The script is engaging and - unlike a couple of others - only as long as it needs to be.
It got my vote, too.
My third vote went to "So In Tents," by John E. Bromels and directed by Rebecca Bromels. It was a new entry a couple of weeks back and was so well-received that it was the first show able to bump out one the series' original productions.
This week's episode is every bit as good.
Unlike the other shows, which exist in their own little worlds, "So In Tents" takes place in Cincinnati and is a thinly veiled depiction of the annual camp-outs in front of the Fairview German Language School in Clifton.
The play is deliciously absurd, as is the real-life camp-out it mocks. There's a constant barrage of class warfare, micro-aggressions and bureaucratic nonsense. In real life, all of this would be irritating as hell, but in the Bromels' theatrical version, the parody is nonstop and delightfully sharp-edged.
The folks in line include Miranda McGee as the pushy wife of a city council member, Mike Sherman as a nice guy who doesn't quite know how to deal with these lunatics, Tatiana Godfrey as a sharp-witted grandmother who refuses to be intimidated and Dave Powell as the self-appointed leader of the line.
Lauren Showen makes a brief appearance as a no-nonsense assistant principal, while WVXU-FM news director Maryanne Zeleznik makes a memorable guest appearance as - what else? - a radio news reporter.
The evening also included Ben Dudley's "Cinderblock" and a new entry by Kevin Crowley, titled "So This Couple . . . "
The Know will announce the three top vote-getters Tuesday at noon. We'll see the next - and final - chapters of those shows as part of the "Serials 2" finale on March 30. On Wednesday of this week, people who have attended "Serials 2" will have a chance to bring back two shows that have were bounced out earlier.
