Pasadena Playhouse: The Devil Carries Golf Clubs

I saw the Furious Theatre Company's world premiere production of An Impending Rupture of the Belly by Matt Pelfry last Friday – what a privilege.

The play is about a man who “worries about many things” and the dangers that come from his fanatical desire to protect his own. The play uses this theme to address everything from the day-to-day grind of dealing with jerky neighbors to the current situation in Iraq. Through a series a dynamic-yet-intimate scenes and some highly theatrical hallucination/surrealist nightmare sequences, Belly does a superb job of telling a compelling story about man pushed to the brink and the bizarre, painful consequences that come from his unwarranted fear and lack of self-control.

The cast is great (Playhouse Graphic Designer Eric Pargac is dynamite, and he better be since he’s on stage for all but 2 minutes of the play) and the direction, as always with this group, is stellar. This is a hard-hitting play – dangerous, violent – and attacks its theme with teeth bared and golf club brandished – well done.

And on a related note – I think its simply marvelous how well Furious Theatre Company’s programming complements the Playhouse’s mainstage productions and auxiliary programs. I love that if I wanted to, I could come the Playhouse campus and see a Broadway-bound musical, an edgy world premiere play, an up-to-the-minute irreverent comedy show, get lunch, dinner, and a post show drink or two and not walk more than 100 yards all day long. Just love it.

:-)

JJ