3C a depressing parody

Most people who grew up in the 1970s still cherish affection for the era’s goofy sitcoms. The fluffy Three’s Company that made John Ritter, Suzanne Somers and Joyce DeWitt stars was a particular favourite.

In St. Albert Theatre Troupe’s season opener 3C, American playwright David Adjmi upends the perky premise of Three’s Company and targets the grime germinating underneath the sitcom’s varnished veneer.

His version is a dark farce that is anything but funny. While Adjmi may have believed he was writing a biting parody, it’s really a gummed up script that focuses on the serious, depressed and creepy nature of the sitcom’s characters and situations.

And it’s a shock if you’re expecting a light, fun-filled night as part of your community dinner theatre package.

The set is a clever ’70s copy, but it represents a dirty, broken-down lifestyle where paper cups litter the floor and a velvet painting hanging on the wall is slightly askew.

The characters are similar copies to the originals with a few name and personality changes. Connie (Heather Orr) is the busty blonde ready to sleep with any guy who asks. Linda (Shelby Bryan) is the more practical, but also depressed brunette who drinks too much and has imaginary weight issues.

And Brad (Cory Stafford) is the buzz-cut ex-military serviceman cooking school student. But in this case, he’s really gay pretending to be straight.

The play is a flood of innuendo that includes a sleazy, womanizing neighbour, Terry (Jeffrey Bannister), a disgusting, perverted landlord, Mr. Wicker (Donald Butlin) and his paranoid, screeching wife (Joanne Poplett).

There are a few, easy sitcom type laughs when a nude, semi-drunk Brad makes an entrance in the first scene.

But the casually spoken bigotry throughout the script is downright malicious. And when Mr. Wicker gropes a semi-willing Linda because the rent is late, it’s a squirm-inducing scene reminiscent of President elect Donald Trump’s sexual adventures – one that made me want to take a long, hot shower.

Time and time again Adjmi’s overblown innuendo falls flat such as when Linda overhears Connie and Terry snorting cocaine and thinks they’re having sex. Unfortunately for the actors, they are stuck with giving us a charitable glimpse of their character’s psyche when none exists.

The entire play is depressing. About the only bright spots are blasts of music from the past and a short choreographed dance reminiscent of John Travolta moves and grooves in Saturday Night Fever.

In Adjmi’s version of Three’s Company, there are no bright lights or rolling cameras. There are only depressed characters, hidden sexual frustrations and some disturbingly lecherous acts.

3C is a more realistic alternate universe to a soundstage. But as one audience member noted on opening night, “I deal with this stuff all the time at work. I don’t want to have to deal with it when I see a play.”

3C runs at Kinsmen Banquet Hall on Nov. 17 to 19 and 24 to 26.