A couple of German fellows, err a Swiss military officer Cordelius (Timothy Rebers) and his bond Julian (Zach Thomas Woods) have found themselves washed ashore in the Amazon. They over-shot their destination by a couple thousand miles and have somehow lived to tell the tale.
These salty dogs blather guarded thanks for their landing, and soon encounter a qypsy who warn of the wayward ways of this land. The gypsy plainly notes that Julian and Cordelius’ manhood is not entitled any birthright here, and certainly that two unaccompanied men traveling alone would face retribution quickly. Women and their wiles rule the Amazon.
Ladies in the Raw
The Amazonians are not the waif-like damsels of post-industrial Europe. They forged their own landed gentry, now ruled by the iron glare of Duchess Penti Celia (Alicia Rice), with a hedonistic fervor for sword and might.
Rough hewn personalities typify the realm of the warrior princesses. Dame Amu (Madeline Wakley) and Dame Grendela (Jennifer Larsen) consumed with pride, glory and booty, feign and posture eagerness to come to blows with anyone closer than two-arms length and less than a mouthful of praises.
Cordelius and Julian shuffle to heed the warning of the local, who swam off leaving them women’s cloths, that one them should disguise as a woman as to give the appearance that the man has a chaperone. Mentally stuck on the Western front and oblivious to the actual dynamics of the jungle, Cordelius insists that Julian play the role of the fairer sex to accentuate his lack of masculinity.
Bathed Every Vein in Swich Liquor
When the Swissmen encounter the ladies of the land, mayhem ensues as contrasting societal conventions around sex and gender collide.
Swashbuckling Grendela and Amu quickly pounce to capture Cordelius’ fresh meat from what they think are Julian’s puny thighs. They bombard Cordelius with a combination of feminine bravado and an onslaught of thinly veiled and raunchy sexual advances.
Although Grendela and Amu nearly to come to blows over Cordelius, who would oridnarily have no choice but to be temporarily betrothed to whoever proved the stronger dame, Cordelius clumsily shakes Amu’s court turning his loin toward Squire Aquiline (LeAnna Vance).
Smiling Teeth
Meanwhile Julian struggles to keep up his facade, a bit out of place coming-off as woman with no mettle. Even the least among these huntresses has the primal instinct to sniff out the faintest hint of testosterone. A skillful strategy might bring Cordelius into better fortune.
As Grendela and Amu’s feud escalates, the Duchess repeatedly intervenes through her diplomatic arbiter Magistress Dotara (Reva Fox) and eventually with her muscle Derimacheia (Niko King) and Thermodosa (Abigail King).
As Cordelius awkwardly wriggles away from Amu’s advances, Aquiline squirms and curdles at Cordelius’ bumbling courting ritual that leads him through ‘bushes’ and into the ‘olive groves’. Squire Pinne (Brittany Curran) brings unexpected relief to this mess with her talents and cunning. Only the arrival of Switzer (Bryan Quinn) disentangle the petty whims ensnaring everyone in this lush outdoor humidor.
Punctuating the Plot
A period piece, Christopher Elst’s Wayward Women deftly adapts Jared McDaris’ take on several Shakespeare works, most notably Twelfth Night and As You Like It, turning the primary premise on its head with respect to gender roles, making men the powerless objects of desire of women.
The play bends a ton of realities that no theatre goer should expect to be upheld within the style and genre of this production. Some of the inconsistencies present arise deliberately and absurdly, in setting the play in the Amazon, the time period roughly the 1920’s, and with scenes taking place in what looks like a lounge in upper Manhattan and not in shadow of the vast rain forests surrounding Brazilia, and the players dressed accordingly.
A well written piece, McDaris stacks Wayward Women with layers and layers of Shakespeare’s rhetorical and literary devices into quip, flesh tearing, low-brown and thoroughly entertaining dialog.
Grant that this is a “players’ play”, with so many briskly delivered antiquated references and inside humor (which you should expect from any Elizabethan Comedy) causal theatre goers will have their mind spun like a yarn ball. However, the overall levity of the play allows you to be at least carried along with the visual cues offered by the cast with and punctuation of cheeky humor with timely gestures ans vocal intonations.
A Tidy Game of Tug-o-War
A well acted play, Alicia Rice imprints herself once again as an intense and commanding presence onstage as the Duchess. Woods and Larsen hold one end of the story’s drama with classic over-the-top performances, having Wakley and Rebers play more measured roles. Fox, Curran and Vance, and briefy Quinn, give needed grounding to the production with solid accompanying roles.
Production and technical credits go to Marcee Doherty-Elst (Producer, Props), Julia Xiong (Stage Manager), Evan Crain (Scenic Design), Aaron Kopec (Lighting), Katlyn Rogers (Costume), Eric Welch (Hair and Makeup).
Theater RED bodaciously brings these players to the stage for Wayward Women’s final weekend of curtain calls Thursday July 20 through Saturday July 21 at Alchemist Theatre in Bay View. All show times 7:30p and definitely worth arriving early to suck up some of the ambiance.
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