2015 Hollywood Fringe Round Up: Sleeping Around and Rick Died

Sleeping Around:  Hollywood Fringe mainstay Theatre Unleashed returns with the World Premiere of Sleeping Around written by Cesar Abella.  Abella and Theatre Unleashed have stunned at the Fringe twice before in 2012 and 2014's productions of 25 Plays per Hour, featuring Abella's knockout monologue "White Satin. Clean Lines."  This new full-length work centers on a chain of sexual encounters.  Each new encounter features one of the characters from the previous scene – Angela sleeps with Donnie; Donnie sleeps with Elizabeth, Elizabeth sleeps with Ryan - until the entire cast of 9 has each been featured in two scenes.

The challenge with a show like this is finding ways to keep the pairings fresh, varied, and believable.  After all, each character must be in a life situation that leads to having 2 sexual partners within a short time span – and their latest encounter must mean something different to them then their last.  If the show is too familiar, the audience will be bored; too outlandish, and the show won't resonate.  On this count, the play mostly succeeds, though it stalls a few times along the way.

The opening scene - one of the strongest - centers on Angela (Sammi Lappin) and Donnie (Jim Martyka), both new to the anonymous sex scene.  Angela is committed to keeping it purely a biological experiment, ensuring she is "just a body, and he [is] just a body." She isn't very good at it.  Donnie is no better, and the two almost call the whole thing off until Donnie suggests they try role playing...as a committed married couple.  In a sweet and funny exchange, they invent everyday mundanities one routinely shares with a lifelong partner until they are comfortable enough to proceed.  The encounter becomes more bittersweet as we learn in later scenes that both Angela and Donnie are in committed relationships, ones that are changing beyond their control.  

Unfortunately, not every scene is a home run, hindered by obvious choices. One scene finds a couple lobbing tired insults at each other (weight, dick size, etc.) as they negotiate their breakup.  It would have been far more rewarding if the digs had been specific to the couple, personal and hurtful.

In its most clear moments, Sleeping Around effectively depicts the way people trade in old dysfunction for new. Sex and relationships aren't a cure when the people participating remain the same.  A loose theme of the impact that technology has on coupling plays throughout, hit especially hard in the final scene.  However these observations are beginning to feel stale, and the play would do well to drop it altogether.

Sammi Lappin - as the vulnerable, wavering, funny, strong Angela - stands out in a competent cast. 


Rick Died:  This likable collection of four comedic one-act plays are based around the premise that somewhere, a guy named Rick died, though it's not necessarily the same Rick in each piece.  Each skit was written and directed by a member of the 4-person ensemble (Maddie Dial, Danny Gendron, Caroline Levich, and Charlie Laud.)  The one-acts are incredibly varied for such a specific premise using a recycled cast.  

"Human Resources" finds self-absorbed Charlotte meeting with her HR manager, put off that Rick did not return her phone call after a date, she's relieved to learn that she hasn't been rejected - he's just dead.  "Plus None" centers on an engaged couple cracking under the stress of planning for a wedding when a convenient death opens up their invite list.  In "Salami Rolls," siblings bicker at their brother's funeral until one makes a shocking revelation.  "Tell Me Something I Don't Know" is so tangentially related to a Rick dying that it feels out of place in the collection: as an act of intimacy and trust, a gifted woman reveals her superpower to her boyfriend.

Finding a quartet equally adept at writing, directing, and acting would be implausible - and the show notably has an amateurish feel to it.  The sets are minimal.  The performances (with the exception of Maddie Dial - the only true actor in the quartet) lack depth.  And while "Tell Me Something" ends perfectly, the other three need stronger jokes to go out on.  Even so, the writing is strong enough to carry the night, and the acting and directing is never less than serviceable.  The fresh storylines, consistently funny dialogue, and solid characters make Rick Died a pleasure to watch despite its shortcomings.  Here's hoping the four take a year to study their crafts and come back to Hollywood Fringe 2016 with another show.

There are no more performances scheduled for Sleeping Around or Rick Died.  Find more information here and here.

Dan Johnson is a freelance writer in Los Angeles helping cover the 2015 Hollywood Fringe Festival for Cinesnatch.