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A few months ago, if a Peter Sinn Nachtrieb play opened up, only readers of Nachtrieb's blog and his pals at the sketch comedy troupe Killing My Lobster would have expected great things. But over the summer, the Lobsters produced their first full-length play, which just happened to be Nachtrieb's "Hunter Gatherers." The black comedy about the primal essence of even the most civilized yuppies became the break-out hit of the summer, extending multiple times and running for three months at San Francisco's Thick House. Suddenly, Nachtrieb is the playwright to watch. All eyes are on him as he ventures across the Bay to Berkeley's Impact Theatre, where his "Colorado" opened last week. Because "Hunter Gatherers" was so good, we expect certain things from "Colorado": big laughs, twisted subject matter and a provocative surprise or two. Nachtrieb is a skillful writer, and the new play delivers on all counts — just not to a "Hunter Gatherers" degree. See how expectations foul things up? If "Colorado" had opened first, we might have said something like: Who is this incredibly tall, talented playwright? (He's 6 feet, 6 inches tall.) What kept me from diving into "Colorado" the way I gladly dove into "Hunter Gatherers" was its familiarity. With its story of a Colorado family obsessed with its beauty pageant-winning daughter, we're firmly in the realm of Jon Benet Ramsey, and there are also fleeting references to the Columbine tragedy, but those never get developed. With its humor emanating from the desperate sadness of all the family members (except the self-involved, hyper-spoiled beauty queen), the tone of "Colorado" bears more than passing resemblance to this summer's indie movie hit "Little Miss Sunshine." More at the Source | ||||||||||||||
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