Thursday, January 27, 2011

Does Whatever a Spidercann by Paul Constant - Theater - The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper:

The "story" hits the basic plot points: Peter Parkre (Ray Tagavilla) is handed a drink by Radioactive Steve Winwood (Mark Siano) and so develops another personality, Spidermann (Osebold). He falls for a hot redhead named Mary Jane Taymor (Erin Jorgensen on Saturday, though the role was played by a different actress every night) and interacts with his Uncle Ben (played by Evan Mosher, holding a box of Uncle Ben's instant rice), Aunt Jemima (Mosher again, holding a bottle of maple syrup), and a villain named Spidermensch (Mosher, refreshingly prop-free). After getting the contextual jokes out of the way (Uncle Ben has a compulsive need to say "With great power comes great responsibility" all the time, including in the bathroom), the center of the play is a series of dream sequences, toying with the characters' relationships. An assholish Spidermann has a coke-fueled sex party with Mary Jane; Spidermann and Parkre are gay lovers, about to host Parkre's homophobic Uncle Ben for the first time; Parkre is a mad scientist who clones Mary Jane when his powers drain the life out of her.