The premise of Terry Johnson’s “Insignificance,”
presented by Dragon Theatre, sounds like the start of a joke:
What happens when Albert Einstein, Joseph McCarthy,
Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio get together?
Well, except for Monroe and DiMaggio, who once were
married, it’s unlikely that the four ever got together, but they do in the New
York hotel room of The Professor (Jim Johnson) in about 1953.
He’s first visited by The Senator (Gary Mosher), who
barges in with two bottles of whiskey. Apparently The Professor is to testify
before the House Un-American Activities Committee the next morning. The Senator
is trying to rehearse The Professor’s answers and strike a deal with him.
He leaves after The
Professor quietly refuses. Shortly thereafter, The Actress (Jessica Lea Risco)
bangs on his door. She’s trying to escape fans pursuing her after shooting the
iconic scene of Monroe standing on a subway grate while her skirt billows up.
They subsequently have
a long discussion about the theory of relativity.
Next to arrive is The Ballplayer
(Nick Mandracchia), who angrily demands that The Actress return home. What
follow are a marital spat and discussion about the relationship.
Characters come and go
throughout the night. It’s all quite talky, but there’s not enough back story
for those who aren’t familiar with what was going in the early ’50s, especially
the Red Scare and McCarthy’s efforts to root out perceived communists and
communist sympathizers.
It’s also puzzling why
the playwright makes The Senator from Louisiana when McCarthy was from
Wisconsin.
Still, direction by
Laura Jane Bailey keeps things going rather smoothly, thanks in large part to
Johnson’s mild demeanor as The Professor and Risco’s nuanced performance at The
Actress. Mosher as The Senator and Mandracchia as The Ballplayer tend to bluster.
Eric Johnson’s hotel
room set is serviceable, as is Jonathan Covey’s sound, but Edward Liptzin’s
lighting changes are sometimes abrupt. Kathleen Qiu’s costumes help to define
the characters. Her dress for The Actress looks a lot like Monroe’s.
Running about an hour
and 40 minutes with one intermission, “Insignificance” has some interesting
moments, but not enough to elevate it to significant theater, nor is it
appropriate for the younger set.
It will continue
through Feb. 18 at Dragon Theatre, 2120 Broadway St., Redwood City. For tickets
and information, call (650) 493-2006, Ext. 2, or visit www.dragonproductions.net.
