Critics' Reviews
By Judith Newmark ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Two St. Louis troupes, HotCity Theatre and the NonProphet Theater Company, have just opened offbeat, remarkably cerebral comedies. Although both shows have their problems, they have a lot of laughs as well.
HotCity has mounted a full production of "Cockeyed," the show that won its New Play Festival last year.
Written by William Missouri Downs and directed by Marty Stanberry (HotCity's artistic director), the play centers on a shy, unhappy man, Phil (Adam Flores). He dislikes his boring office job — a far cry from the philosophical studies he loved in college — and the pretty coworker he's crazy about, Sophia (Jennifer Nitzband), doesn't know he exists. At all. She literally cannot see him.
Downs has a clever premise here, one that opens doors Phil never expected to go through. Flores is a charmer, inviting the audience into an imaginative world and getting good support from Nitzband, Paul Pagano as his (visible) pal and Tyler Vickers as their arrogant boss.
Downs is a little too clunky about Phil's invisibility, something that could probably be avoided if he gave his script more polish. Stanberry, however, lets that go. He directs "Cockeyed" as a romantic comedy, gliding from joke to joke. One, an oldie but a goodie, starts, "Rene Descartes walks into a bar." You've got to like a play with a line like that.
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Reviewed by Philip Hitchcock - KDHX
Phil is a nerd. Not just a "masking tape on his glasses, pocket protector" kind of nerd. Phil is an uber nerd. He majored in philosophy and works as an accountant. In high school, the kids in band camp and the math club would have made fun of him. But Phil is in love with the pretty secretary at the office, Sophia, and that's really what the world premiere of Cockeyed is all about. Except, Sophia doesn't see him. In fact, Phil is so far off Sophia's radar that she literally does not see him even when he's sleeping right next to her in her bed. Many sight gags arise from this convention as Cockeyed debates, discusses and belabors the lengths we traverse to be noticed by those we admire and how most of us fail to even see what is right in front of us.
William Missouri Downs, winner of HotCity's 2008 New Play Festival, wrote Cockeyed and is undoubtedly a student of philosophy. All the great philosophers from Plato to Nietzsche are quoted in the dialogue. The discourse is often humorous, often playful, but by the end of the evening, a little tedious. Which is not to say I didn't like the play. Phil's monologues just get a little "Philosophy 101," and might benefit from some trimming. To that end, Adam Flores as Phil triumphs over often difficult material and is genuinely winsome as the nice guy nobody notices. He strikes the perfect balance between shyness and "Barney Fife" bravado and pulls off a geekie character that might earn lesser actors a wedgie. His command of philosophical concepts is believable and his disco dance routine at the end of the show (complete with fog and disco lights) is roll in the aisles hysterical.
Sophia, played by a well focused Jennifer Nitzband, is desperate to marry. She is driven to despair, in part, by her nagging mother who calls incessantly but whom we never see. Yet, her phone conversations with her mother are so convincing, and her inability to see Phil so persuasive, that we actually feel like we see mom and see through Phil! Nitzband delivers a consistent performance without breaking character even when Flores as goofy Phil does his best to crack her up. Part of Sophia's selective vision might be explained by the rumor around the office that she has a glass eye, something we in the audience dismiss as petty office gossip. That is, until she appears later in her apartment wearing a pirate's eye patch - a bit which brings down the house! Playwright Downs gets a ton of mileage out of this particular "sight gag."
Rounding out the cast are Paul Pagano as Phil's boss Norman, and Tyler Vickers as Company CEO Marley. Pagano charms and delights as the frightened middle management every-man struggling with his own version of corporate invisibility. He is the hapless patsy with his last finger in the leaking dike who, by play's end, transforms into a man of real integrity. Vickers plays the quintessential corporate shark, whose bluetooth matches his tie, and who possesses all the swagger of a Vegas lounge singer. To his credit, he manages to remain likable in the role of the guy we love to hate.
Director Marty Stanberry does a fine job of keeping the wordy script moving forward, though, for me, he creates some staging problems by splitting the office set onto two sides of the stage. The set up has actors crossing through darkness to get from one part of the office to another, and has us wondering what the apartment set center stage is going to be used for. Although this strategy might have worked better on a larger stage, the intimate venue here would benefit from a simpler, more redolent office set that relies more on lighting to define locations.
Cockeyed questions the meaning of existence, the nature of love, and what it means to truly see. It is, at times, laugh out loud funny and contains, for the most part, well written, three-dimensional characters. By the end of the performance, Cockeyed had me not only questioning what and whom I might be missing in the world around me, but ready to acknowledge, if not embrace, my own "inner nerd."
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Sarah Boslaugh -Talkin’ Broadway
The studio theatre of the Kranzberg Arts Center was rocking with laughter on Friday night, thanks to the world premiere of Cockeyed, a new play by William Missouri Downs that won last season's HotCity Theatre GreenHouse New Play Festival.
Cockeyed was hilarious in the staged reading during the Festival, but it's even better in HotCity's full production, and is a polished and engaging work which should enjoy many more productions in the future.
Cockeyed draws heavily on the age-old conventions of farce: improbable situations, exaggerated characters, amazing coincidences, absurd misunderstandings, people hiding in closets and barely missing each other as they run in and out of doors—you get the idea. The characters work in an office that seems to belong to a world at least several decades past; corporations are still oppressive (and still a man's world) but not so much in the specific ways presented here. Cockeyed has more in common with Billy Wilder's The Apartment (there's even an adding machine on the desk) and with Woody Allen's films from the 1970s (remember the scene where he imagined the ideal partner: a woman who was in every way his counterpart, from her fanatic interest in baseball to her passion for traditional jazz, but who also fulfilled his exact requirements for feminine beauty?) than with modern office life. But that's not really a problem, because Cockeyed is not a naturalistic play. From time to time you may be tempted to interpret it as such, but the playwright quickly jerks you back to the land of farce by having one of the characters directly address the audience or launch into a philosophical discourse which would be pretentious if overheard in the freshman dorm, and is completely absurd in the context of adults who have to think about things like health insurance coverage.
The story centers on sad-sack Phil (Adam Flores), who's madly in love with the beautiful Sophia (Jennifer Nitzband). Or at least he's madly obsessed with her, since they've never met and he really knows nothing about her: she exists for him only as the object of his fantasies. And when he says she looks right through him, that's not just a figure of speech. In a more realistic play Phil could be a scary stalker, peering at Sophia through binoculars while she goes about her work. Yes, he really does that. But beneath the farcical exterior of Cockeyed beats the heart of a romantic comedy, and everything Phil does is meant to be cute rather than creepy. It's a credit to Adam Flores that he pulls this off: his Phil is as disarmingly cuddly and non-threatening as a puppy.
The worm in the rose, so to speak, is the evil boss Marley (Tyler Vickers), who also lusts after Sophia but has the advantages of money and position. Vickers captures just the right note, playing Marley as a broad caricature of the alpha male who commands Sophia to "sit!" and "stay!" as if she were a dog. He also has a disconcerting habit of shifting abruptly between conversations with people who are physically present and with an unheard voice on the telephone headset which seems to be grafted to his skull. It's a clever device which offers ample opportunities for farcical misunderstanding whenever the story begins to sage.
Sophia is primarily a device to allow the play to happen: we don't learn much about her beyond the fact that she has a glass eye (played up for all its comical possibilities) and an annoying mother who lives upstairs and calls every three minutes (telephones are even better than doorbells when it comes to ramping up the action). But Jennifer Nitzband brings out the humanity in Sophia. If the other characters see her only as a means to their ends, she fights back for the right to choose her own life.
The fourth character is Norman (Paul Pagano), the voice of reason among all these self-involved people. He's an old buddy of Phil's who went out on a limb to hire a philosophy major (a running joke) but whose loyalty is strained due to Phil's obstinacy and lack of concern about the real-world consequences of his actions. Romantic daydreaming and showing off your philosophical knowledge may stroke the ego, but Norman is a married man with responsibilities, and Pagano captures Norman's sense of exasperation at his self-involved buddy who just doesn't seem to get it.
There's a lot of philosophy quoted in Cockeyed, and a lot of inside jokes and gentle pokes aimed at the PBS set—a good strategy since the people most likely to get the references are also the people most likely to buy theatre tickets. But it's never oppressive and you have to admire the playwright's cleverness: how many farces re-enact Plato's allegory of the cave to bring their plots to resolution? If the resolution itself is overly convenient (and skirts uncomfortably close to the conventions a television dramedy—does everything have to end with lessons learned?), I'm willing to cut the author some slack since the writing is so good up to that point.
The technical elements are excellent as always. Alex Gaines' set includes three distinct locations within the narrow confines of the Kranzberg studio theatre, and Jeff Griswold's sound design adds an element of characterization (both Sophia and Phil enjoy dancing badly to 1980s disco), as do Felicia Davenport's costumes. Davenport also came up with a real howler of a jacket which adds to the comic momentum as Cockeyed hurtles toward its conclusion.
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by Mark Bretz - Ladue News Story
Phil has a problem. He is in love with a beautiful woman who doesn’t know he exists. That’s odd, you’d think, because they work in the same office, he as an assistant to his accountant friend Norman, and Sophia as secretary to the imposing boss, Mr. Marley. To Phil’s way of thinking, Sophia is oblivious to him because he’s a nice guy and she’s a beautiful woman, and beautiful women never are attracted to nice guys. Don’t even acknowledge them, as a matter of fact. Phil’s college degree in philosophy enables him to grasp such fundamental, if painful, truths. Indomitable fellow that he is, though, Phil is determined to win Sophia’s heart, and enlists exasperated Norman’s help, even if it is the 11th hour as surprisingly lonely Sophia contemplates marriage to the twice-divorced Marley, a preppie sort who fashions his pocket kerchief into a crown and talks incessantly on his Bluetooth phone in search of some mysterious documents. So how can Phil enter Sophia’s reality?
Highlights: Winner of HotCity’s 2008 Greenhouse New Play Festival, this two-act comedy by William Missouri Downs delivers an evening’s worth of laughs thanks to Marty Stanberry’s smooth and lively direction and the top-notch comic talents of his quartet of players. Downs’ program bio states that he’s written 20 plays that have been performed nearly 100 times around the world, as well as authored a textbook called The Art of Theatre that is used in more than 100 universities. In short, he knows how to write, and Cockeyed is written quite well.
Other Info: That said, the first act of this two-act comedy is substantially funnier than the second, when the script struggles to reach a satisfying conclusion, and “concludes” no fewer than three times before its amusing denouement. Nevertheless, it’s rewarding and humorous stuff and given a most delightful interpretation by Adam Flores, Jennifer Nitzband, Paul Pagano and Tyler Vickers, all coached convincingly by Stanberry. Flores, as Phil, ingratiates himself to the audience with an endearing and effervescent portrayal. At each roadblock in his romantic quest he proffers the theory, “I know what you’re thinking,” and then dutifully recites the birth and death years and groundbreaking ruminations of noted philosophers, from Plato and Socrates to Nietzsche and Locke, who support his argument for his lovelorn quest. Flores is eminently likable throughout, a critical component to accepting this often silly play. Nitzband brings her own zany qualities to the frustrated Sophia, who lives in an apartment below one occupied by her incessantly meddling mother, and sports a false eye to boot, a device which yields a rich comic lode. Pagano has a nicely frenzied and manic touch as the addled accountant, and Vickers is consistently amusing as the self-absorbed Marley (perhaps Scrooge’s business partner’s uninformed descendant?).
Alex Gaines’ set design brackets Sophia’s messy living quarters with an office kitchen and Norman’s cloistered office, while Michael Sullivan’s lighting moves smoothly back and forth to cover scenes in each area. Felia Davenport’s costumes are highlighted by Vickers’ classy threads and the non-descript attire of the invisible Phil, Tom Myrda adds the suitable props and Jeff Griswold provides the kitschy sound design, complete with Sophia’s beloved Bee Gees. Cockeyed is funny from its title to its over-delayed conclusion, and certainly worth a look with good eyes or glassy ones. Rating: A 4 on a scale of 1-to-5.
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Reviewed by Chris Gibson -PlaybackSTL Magazine
I'm always interested in seeing something fresh and invigorating, and the chance to take in the premiere of Williams Downs' new comedy, Cockeyed, afforded me that opportunity. It's an odd little romantic farce of sorts, with a number of whimsical elements, and a foundation in philosophy that distinguishes it from the run of the mill relationship comedies that every young playwright seems to be producing.
Cockeyed is a very funny show, bristling with wit and performed by an energetic cast led by the ingratiating work of Adam Flores. Phil (as in philosophy major) is a “worker bee” in the accounting department of a firm, on the cusp of a major merger, who yearns for something more than a living wage; he'd like to be noticed. He's silently stalking Sophia, a striking woman who's soul purpose seems to be fetching coffee for the big boss, Mr. Marley, when he's introduced to the object of his affections by his superior, Norman. The problem is that she literally doesn't see him; he's completely invisible (and inaudible) to her. This twist plays out in an intriguing and intellectual fashion as Phil tries to figure out some way to make her perceive his existence, before she succumbs to familial pressure, and marries the evil Marley.
Adam Flores is a tightly wound ball of conflicting emotions as Phil. He takes advantage of his unfortunate circumstance by moving himself into Sophia's basement apartment. Since she can't see or hear him, he's free to give a running commentary on the action that occurs between Sophia and Marley. And, when he breaks the fourth wall at key moments, and talks directly to the audience to acknowledge that he knows what they must be thinking, he delivers amusing monologues with references to Plato and Descartes, that are designed to justify his naughty behavior. Jennifer Nitzband impresses as Sophia. She's a flawed beauty with a glass eye who shares the same passion for philosophy that Phil does, but she's bound and determined to marry a man with money, since she can't be bothered with nice guys. Paul Pagano is very good as Phil's boss, Norman. He's gone against office policy and hired his friend, despite his inappropriate degree, and his sole concern seems to be maintaining his own low profile at work. Tyler Vickers is sharp as Marley, all business all the time, even while declaring his intentions to Sophia - on one knee with Blue Tooth firmly in place. Vickers is especially good here switching gears between his phone and fiancée as he works on two very different proposals simultaneously.
Director Marty Stanberry has assembled a talented cast who understand the importance of good comic timing. This is a well paced and efficient show that's brimming with laughs, and that's really surprising considering that this is a premiere. Alex Gaines contributes a triptych set design, with two representations of Phil's office space separated by Sophia's grungy apartment in the middle. Some awkward staging results from this as characters move through darkness to reach the other side of the office. Michael Sullivan's lighting scheme is well conceived and executed. Felia Davenport's costumes fit the characters without drawing attention away from them. Jeff Griswold's disco-flavored score is a delicious delight.