"Long Beach's Alive Theatre takes on those with
short attention spans in '28 Plays Later'"
By Phillip Zonkel, Staff writer
LONG BEACH PRESS TELEGRAM

"28 Plays Later," the new production of Long Beach-based Alive Theatre company, embraces the short-attention span of the YouTube culture by offering 28 theatrical experiences in 60 minutes.

The production, which opens Sunday and runs through Sept. 21 at Koos Art Center in the East Village Arts District, is a collaboration of Long Beach-based writers, designers, actors, directors and musicians.

The basic concept of presenting a dizzying array of theater isn't new - similar rapid-fire productions have been staged in New York City and Chicago.

The evening relies on audience interaction. At each performance, company members present a menu of play selections and from this list, the audience decides what it sees. In total, the audience picks from 41 plays.

About 90 percent of these plays are from young Long Beach writers who are discovering their voice, says director Jasper Polecki Oliver.

"The themes are coherent, yet wildly diverse - lost identity, nightmares of impending technological overload, the nostalgia of childhood pop culture."

The 41 plays were selected for overall creativity and diversity, among other qualities, says Craig Fleming, Alive Theatre's associate director.

"It helped if they veered toward the subversive," he says. "Then again, cramming 28 plays into an evening can be pretty subversive by itself."

Following are Oliver's descriptions of 14 of the plays:

"All Roads Lead to Stalingrad": The town ofVolgograd, formerly known as Stalingrad, is situated on the western banks of the Volga River. This comedy is about students learning facts such as this.

"Anger Management": A chipper young go-getter tries to control his emotions in this satire.

"Bird in Brad's Backyard": Spring comes early for Brad Stockenmeyer, when a maleficent chickadee from the Far East enters his home, threatening his family, his livelihood and his American way of life.

"Captain Planet": Green-mulleted 1980 s cartoon idol Captain Planet attempts to use parody to fight global warming, as many of the planeteers face deportation.

"Eddie's Day": Writer-actor Eddie Chamberlain, star of Orange Coast College's "Little Shop of Horrors," allows the audience an unprecedented look into his life.

"Forget This Place": Action, excitement and spectacle await in this heartwarming family drama about corporate greed, poverty and gun control.

"Improvisation Exercise": It's cooked up and flung their way. They dust it off and peel it from the floor, then eat it, with strict adherence to the five-second rule, of course.

"Interdimensional Vikings vs. Cthulhu": That great sleeping cephalopod from H.P. Lovecraft's classic tale of cosmic terror never appears in this comedy, nor does he battle any Scandinavian ocean warriors. It's all just a clever title for what is merely an editorial about potato chips, or something.

"Parts is Parts": A bevy of militant free-range chickens lead a special ops squadron deep into the KFC factory to liberate their imprisoned brethren as two lesbians squabble.

"Power of Love": The late stuntman Evel Knievel sings a Celine Dion song accompanied by Long Beach local band Bed Breakfast Man, in this parody.

"Real Women of Genius": A long overdue celebration of XX chromosomal pairings.

"The Twilight Zone": In 1956, Rod Serling shattered viewers' perceptions of reality with a nasty-minded little anthology program titled "The Twilight Zone," and in the process gave viewers' collective zeitgeist permanent feverish nightmares. In 2008, actor-writer Anthony Cretara repays Serling those sleepless nights by lampooning the classic TV show.

"The Unassailable Rawls of Karate Zumba": Unbiased, crypto-anthropological insights into the life and times of one of Long Beach's most memorable - albeit made up - forgotten heroes.

"Waiting": A decidedly Daoist take on Samuel Beckett's bleak comedy. Godot still doesn't show.

Phillip Zonkel, (562) 499-1258

phillip.zonkel@presstelegram.com

28 PLAYS LATER

When: 8 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 21, with an additional show at 4 p.m. Sept. 14.

Where: Koos Art Center, 530 E. Broadway, Long Beach.

Tickets: $10.

Information: (562) 508-1788, www.alivetheatre.org.

http://www.presstelegram.com/lifestyle/stage/ci_10327657