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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2009 > March > 02 > Entry
Review: ‘Bombs in Your Mouth’ at Hyde Park
Ken Webster has just about perfected the art of picking plays for Hyde Park Theatre that are fresh, darkly comic and challenging but also perfectly suited to his direction and casting. The world premiere of “Bombs in Your Mouth” is, in that light, a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it’s rife with clichés. On the other, it’s so funny, emotional, and tight in execution that you’re reminded that some clichés are popular for good reason.
After a disappointing father’s death, Danny and Lily are reunited after six years and very divergent life paths. There is judgment, martyrdom, drinking and ultimately a sense that they’re less different than previously thought. On that level, “Bombs” seems only an edit or two away from any number of Hollywood feel-goods than to the less heartwarming “True West.”
But while the overall arc and many of the individual plot points have appeared elsewhere, playwright Corey Patrick adds a few twists of his own. Elsewhere the fighting and arguments would punctuate a larger plot. Here it feels like the driver as Danny and Lily start and stop in fits, bringing up sensitive subjects and immediately deciding they’re not ready to talk about them. The ratcheting up and down of tension without any real catharsis is surprisingly effective. And while there’s little release along the way, Patrick has a sense of humor that can work both broadly and subtly, creating space for childish jokes, drinking contests and a bit of satire.
That alone can’t make “Bombs” a great work, but Webster’s direction and the performances from Joey Hood and Liz Fisher make it a great production. Whether they’re chugging beers in a race to the monster belch or reminiscing about their father’s failures, the two make even the unoriginal elements engaging. But when Patrick gives the actors more to work with, they shine.
When the two siblings return from the police station after learning that their father might have burned down Lily’s mother’s house, they take a moment to look back. Danny wears his father’s torn, burned winter coat and reads his last will and almost stark mad testament written on a roll of toilet paper. At the same time that Danny finds some empathy performing the role of his father, almost becoming him, he dredges up the anger all over again that his father never loved his own mother as much. Lily takes over reading, slowly intoning about her own mother, “No one but (her), no one but (her)” until their father’s memoirs trail off. In that original and poignant moment, Patrick’s script hits its highest moment. As a result, Fisher and Hood are positively captivating. “Bombs in Your Mouth” isn’t a particularly new story, but it’s a good version of an old favorite. And Hyde Park Theatre’s telling of it is even better.
(“Bombs in Your Mouth” continues at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays through March 28 at the Hyde Park Theatre, 511 W. 43rd St. $16-$18. 479-PLAY.)
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