Confusion in 'The Maderati' makes for lots of laughs

By Nathan Hathaway

Charlotte Ebbinger has not been murdered. She has not committed suicide. She’s not even dead. She has not had an abortion. She’s just temporarily in the nuthouse.

The University Theatre’s newest play, “The Maderati,” centers on the lives of nine pretentious San Francisco artists-cum-socialites who get caught in a tangled web of miscommunication and confusion. All the chaos adds up to two hours of serious laughs.

When suicide-minded failed poet Charlotte (played by Lindsay Birdwell) gets detained in a mental hospital, friends Chuck (Brandon Petrie) and Rena DeButts (Brooke Aiello) try to solicit the help of Ritt (Jacob Savala) and Dewy Overlander (Erin Hoover), who somehow think Charlotte has died, and they deduce she has been murdered.

Ritt and Dewey, a pompous, insensitive wannabe photographer, proceed to spread the word of Charlotte’s death to everyone in their social circle.

All the characters start running around trying to perform their duty—Rena doing her best to spring Charlotte from the looney bin, Chuck trying to inform and console the narcoleptic Keene Esterhazy (Michael Oldham), the man who only the night before was shot down when he proposed to Charlotte, and Ritt and Dewy tracking down all of Charlotte’s friends and acquaintances to let them know of her demise.

Things get interesting when Ritt and Dewy throw a “grief party” at Chuck and Rena’s house and Charlotte shows up. All the misconceptions come crashing down, and some more even crop up when publisher Martin Royale (Daniel Moore) thinks it’s all a ploy to help him overcome his dark past.

Blake Ellis and SaraJane Katen round out the cast as inaudible heartthrob actor Danton Young and trashy-looking feminist Cuddles Molotov.

The most interesting characters, by far, are the Overlanders. One day away from having a completely healed marriage—Ritt is convinced all will be well if the couple can reach 100 days of a successful marriage after Dewy’s affair with former lover Danton—Ritt and Dewy are the cute couple who just never seem to be on the same page.

Dewy is a pompous, frigid jerk still enamored with Danton. Every time Ritt tries to show his love for his wife, Dewy shuts him down or blows him off. She’s far too absorbed in her own business to worry about what Ritt is thinking or feeling.

Ritt is the anti-Dewy. He is a down-to-earth stock broker totally devoted to his wife. He hangs on her every word and seems to want nothing more than Dewy’s approval and love. Consequently he often ends up looking like the doormat—until late in the play when he finally asserts his dominance.

Early in the play, the audience learns that Ritt had an epiphany a short time earlier. But every time he tries to share it, he gets cut off, most of the time by Dewy. Once the audience finally does get to hear the epiphany, it’s like a scene without Dewy’s arrogance—refreshing.

The most cryptic character is the marble-mouthed Danton. The only time the audience actually sees Danton before it meets him in the final scene is after a clearly exhausting night with Cuddles and he’s asleep. Adding to his mystery, Danton’s first 10 or so lines sound like they’re coming from through a mouth recently shot up with novocaine. And once he actually is understandable, the audience still has to strain to make out what he’s saying.

“ The Maderati” is directed by Brad Myers, a professor in the theatre arts department. Myers has directed more than 20 productions, including “Indulgences in the Louisville Harem,” which was one of six shows selected to be performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

“ The Maderati” was written by Richard Greenberg, who won a Tony Award earlier this year for his play, “Take Me Out.” He is also the author of “Three Days of Rain,” a finalist for the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The play will run through Sunday in the John Wright Theatre in the Speech Arts building. All shows begin at 8 p.m. For tickets call 278-2216.