Originally written and performed in 1986, this no-holds barred satire of militarism and media manipulation tells the story of Spike Spangle, a down on his luck farmer who gets sucked into a whirlwind of celebrity and patriotism. He joins Superman on billionaire Max Enormous’ Celebrity Space Shuttle and a nefarious plot leads to the deification of Spike Spangle as an American hero.
VIOLENCE: The Misadventures of Spike Spangle, Farmer
Critics
LemonMeter
Reviews: 4
Reviews
With the return of Tim Robbins' delightfully off-centered 1985 PC-proof comedy, his creatively unstoppable Actors’ Gang ensemble members sweating off their weirdly wonderful kabuki makeup and flicking their tongues out from under Erhard Stiefel’s hauntingly creepy masks as they skewer political greed then and now, are not just actors. They are us. We are them. It’s a shame it’s always so hard to remember that, to recognize and live with that, even as we try our best at every opportunity to defy the shortcomings inherent in our own human nature and change them.
Predictability may be a part of the play’s message about corruption in politics, patriotism and militarism, but it felt like it could’ve built up to something more....
The play at times feels disturbing, and at others, just plain goofy. However, it never loses its point amid the chaos. Spike Spangle’s lesson is universal, though it is one that humanity may, unfortunately, never truly learn.
The visceral staging by Bob Turton makes excellent use of the Actors’ Gang signature impassioned commedia dell’arte physicality, enhanced with unsettling masks and face paint.
This comical yet critical satire of the ways in which media moguls and politicians can influence social change when the gullible public is pulled into their financially-motivated schemes certainly reflects today's sad state of affairs. One can only hope visionaries such as Robbins can keep encouraging us to #SpeakUp and #Vote leaders into places of power who truly reflect more than just their own self-importance and greed. #Word
With the return of Tim Robbins' delightfully off-centered 1985 PC-proof comedy, his creatively unstoppable Actors’ Gang ensemble members sweating off their weirdly wonderful kabuki makeup and flicking their tongues out from under Erhard Stiefel’s hauntingly creepy masks as they skewer political greed then and now, are not just actors. They are us. We are them. It’s a shame it’s always so hard to remember that, to recognize and live with that, even as we try our best at every opportunity to defy the shortcomings inherent in our own human nature and change them.
Predictability may be a part of the play’s message about corruption in politics, patriotism and militarism, but it felt like it could’ve built up to something more....
The play at times feels disturbing, and at others, just plain goofy. However, it never loses its point amid the chaos. Spike Spangle’s lesson is universal, though it is one that humanity may, unfortunately, never truly learn.
The visceral staging by Bob Turton makes excellent use of the Actors’ Gang signature impassioned commedia dell’arte physicality, enhanced with unsettling masks and face paint.
This comical yet critical satire of the ways in which media moguls and politicians can influence social change when the gullible public is pulled into their financially-motivated schemes certainly reflects today's sad state of affairs. One can only hope visionaries such as Robbins can keep encouraging us to #SpeakUp and #Vote leaders into places of power who truly reflect more than just their own self-importance and greed. #Word