Las Vegas Review-Journal - September 20, 2005


Sep. 20, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal


Insomniac offers laughs in brief work

By ANTHONY DEL VALLE
REVIEW-JOURNAL


There are a few hearty laughs to be had in Insomniac Project's "Late Night Confessions," and in this so-far lackluster theater season, we should be grateful.

Six short sketches are played out on the set of another production. Among the gems: John Wennstrom as an aging superhero explaining why he got tired of playing policeman to the world in Jeff Goode's "The Spiderman Monologue," directed by Robert Cox; and Aaron Oetting as a monster going public for the first time in Ron Carlson's "I Am Bigfoot," directed by John Randall. But the best is a hilariously winsome Scottish Cinderella story featuring a put-upon Molly McGuire (Lori Kay) and three competing handsome princes (Aaron Oetting, John Randall and Jess Martyn Thompson) who also double as Molly's family in drag. Director Cox gets some great maniacal sparks from his gifted cast, and Kay's comic timing and tongue-in-cheek maiden charm are irresistible.

One might question, though, whether this kind of very minor, 45-minute entertainment that often feels quickly patched together is worth 10 bucks, or if it lives up to the Insomniac's stated mission to "provide interesting and exciting works of theater." Why isn't Insomniac performing on a stage with its own set? What's happened to the Insomniac that used to do major works like "The Blue Room" and "Bash"?

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at DelValle@aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.