THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 4, 1994 TAG: 9408020162
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater Review
SOURCE: Montague Gammon III
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
``Blood Ties'' is the broad comedy of the New Plays for Dog Days, the light summer entertainment in this quartet of new plays.
Jonathan Marten's energetic, cleverly stylized performance gives a lightly and very funny start to this farce about a stereotypical Jewish mother turned into a vampire. Marten plays the woman's son, and Anne Morton plays his vapid girlfriend.
At least in the first act Marten is so close to hilarious, and Morton his perfect foil. Barbara Kelly gets to ham up the role as the undead mother, and does so with flair, finesse, and much lip-smacking verve.
But for the enjoyable performances of the supporting cast, the second act rarely lives up to the promise of the first. It isn't the attempt to turn this pleasantly frothy piece into the serious commentary on maternal and filial love that drives a stake through the play's heart, though the playwright does put the final nail in her own script's coffin.
Halfway through Act 2, comedic inspiration just seems to vanish like a vampire in sunlight, and the play shows little more vitality than a bloodless corpse. The tension of uncomfortable looking actors who realize that they have nothing much to do is relieved only by passages of meaningless door slamming.
Maybe there is something about timing or energy that this production lost. Marten's manic energy is certainly missed when he's not on stage. Still, the contrast between acts is so drastic that one audience member mused, after the final applause, ``Is it a one-act play?''
Marten, Morton and Kelly continue to be funny throughout, though somewhat subdued in the latter portion of the show. The other cast members come into their own as the play winds down.
Bob Scott plays a wino who would be a mafioso hit man. His performance is relatively low-key but fun. Christa Jones gets to pull out all the stops as an Hispanic maid whose gleeful lust is stimulated by vampirism.
G.F. Rowe adopts a silly face, walk, and voice in a brief appearance as a psychiatrist. He and Marten have a sort of ``Who's on First'' exchange that is one of the high points of the show.
Marten also directed the show.
When playwright Judy Rose reworks Act 2 so that it is as consistently funny as Act 1, she will have a script that could be a hit at community and dinner theaters. ILLUSTRATION: AT A GLANCE
What: ``Blood Ties'' by Judy Rose
When: Aug. 13, at 1 p.m.
Where: Generic Theater, 912 West 21st St., Norfolk
Tickets: 441-2160
by CNB