Atmospheric new Basement Arts show nothing short of 'Freak'-ish

By Sarah Rubin

For The Daily

"Fucking tea time."

Did that get your attention? Good. It was supposed to. In the one-act play "Control Freaks," writer Beth Henley relies on lines like this to captivate viewers. This show was adopted for performance by the Basement Arts board and directed by Becky Hibbs.

Incestuous tendencies and deceit are the basis for this dark comedy. Four characters interact. Two of them are related. Two of them are married. Two have a pseudo-engagement. Four of them are having an affair. One is a schizophrenic and has three personalities.

And the plot is even weirder than the math.

Sister, the protagonist, is lovably crazy. Brilliantly portrayed by Megan Maczko, Sister is vulnerable, lacking ambition and delightfully oblivious to her surroundings. Sister expresses all of the basic human emotions that humans are basically unable to express. She is jealous of her new sister-in-law. She lusts after her brother. She represses her childhood.

Maczko's sensitive performance is consummated by her presentation of Sister's other sides: Pinky is the sweet Southern belle, Spaghetti is the sultry vixen and Sister is the happy combination of the two. Mazko does a laudable job of defining each persona.

The supporting characters are a dazzling array of strange. As Sister's brother Carl, Dan Granke puts a bit too much pep into the performance, causing his unrealistic role to verge on asinine. However, he has to do something to explain Henley's vague allusions to a flirtation with his sister and a disturbing need for power.

Betty (Anna Reby) is Carl's wife. This former prostitute has an obsessive-compulsive need for order within the chaos. She sedately mops while deliberating upon how to kill her husband. Her apathy is matched only by her absurdity. Reby's body language is superb; it gives the audience a glimpse into the personality that her lines lack. The final wacko thrown into the bedlam of Carl's household is Paul-the-boss, played by Paul Greer. He pursues Sister for her money and Betty for her whorishness in a performance that is overwhelmingly passionate, and yet sterile in all the wrong places. Greer pulls it off, though. Hibbs felt that "whatever (character) interpretation I did was in my casting." She interpreted well.

The costumes scream for ... something. A silver wig, checkered tights and a maroon can-can are among the flashy pieces. The set is fine, but predictable.

The lighting is the most solid component of the play. It alternates between red and mysterious and green and foreboding. Overall, "Control Freaks" has a great atmosphere; it teems with discomfort and uncertainty.

Misuse of absurd perversity and flagrant irony is a trite way to win an audience. However, armed with three weeks and $100, Hibbs and Co. have a great thing going. This is a worthwhile play, not because of its inherent structural flaws but because of its blatant honesty in exploiting them.