Katherine Karaus, Drew Highlands, Evelyn DeHais in Balconies (photo Dangerpants Photography) |
Balconies
Written by Scotto Moore
Through August 30, 2014
Opposites attract premises, particularly the
conservative/liberal variety could be kind of eye-rolling, but at the hands of
playwright Scotto Moore, it turns
out to be a whole lot more fun than hackneyed. His newest work, Balconies, at Annex Theatre, has many of
his signature elements: fast-paced dialogue, high tech speak, agile plot
devices.
Instead of a just-ahead-of-its-time future fantasy (Moore’s previous
works), this play stays rooted in 2014, but makes fun of a Scientology-type
cult and lets the geeks win. Characters who, at first glance, seem
stereotypically boring turn out to be a whole lot quirkier than their book-cover.
Cameron (Drew
Highlands) is having a best-launch-ever party in his condo for Sparkle Dungeon 5. (I would love for
that game to become a reality!) He’s invited dozens of geek friends in costume.
But just next condo over, Annalise (Katherine
Karaus) is hosting a fund-raiser for her politician mother (Laura Hanson), politicians including
the Chief of Police, and a key funder, Lonso (Jason Sharp), a creepy world-thought-dominator.