Diversionary Theatre and Artistic Director John Alexander have never been too shy to step outside of the proverbial “box.” They have kept San Diego audiences entertained with plot twists and gender bender casting for years, so why would they stop now?
Coming in October (just before all Hallows Eve) Diversionary Theatre will present a send-up of both femme fatale and B horror movies of the ‘50s with a show written by Phil Johnson and Ruff Yeager called She-Rantulas from Outer Space – in 3D!
The show cleverly mixes two very different film styles set in a suburban town in the ‘50s. “In this wildly funny new comedy, Betty, an average mother in the 1950s begins to have doubts about everything around her in her quaint suburban community,” Johnson explained. “All the men start disappearing and new women arrive almost daily. Every subject and situation becomes terrifying and threatening – communists, new people in town – suspicions are everywhere. Her adorable blonde daughter Suzie has an awful secret. Betty may not be who she seems. And what are all those awful dark stains on the carpet? Men dressed as women, blood everywhere, invaders from space She-Rantulas is a wild answer to The Bad Seed and all the B horror movies of the ‘50s. No one is safe!”
She-Rantulas, the brainchild of both Johnson and Yeager, was pretty much spawned almost three years ago when the duo pitched an idea to Diversionary to do The Bad Seed, but the timing just wasn’t right.
“The idea is from a reading we did three years ago of The Bad Seed, where we decided to switch the genders,” Johnson said. “The piece was very funny and with Ruff’s concepts of 1950s Americans and their fear of “The Other”, it worked like a dream. Diversionary wasn’t interested then. Unfortunately, it’s one of those plays where the contract states that there will be no switching of gender, and thus came the idea of a new play, with a lot of what we felt was hilarious about Bad Seed, and expanding it to include all of 1950s America (not to mention the present).”
Yeager echoed Johnson’s thoughts on how it came about adding a few thoughts of his own. “We had the idea to present The Bad Seed as a satire on the fear of the “other” in our contemporary society – particularly the gay other,” Yeager said. “To accomplish that task, I suggested that men play the women’s roles and vice-versa, [but] the timing, wasn’t right for Diversionary. Shortly after, John Alexander became executive artistic director and was eager to see Diversionary produce it. A series of spectacular events then occurred (as they often do in the theater) that allowed Phil and I to write our own comic play based on the idea of fear of the ‘other’. We began by imagining that if a B horror movie had been made in the late ‘50s about homosexuals taking over the world that it would have been She-Rantulas from Outer Space – in 3D!
“We then met weekly during the next year and wrote our own fartire (our own unique combination of farce and satire) and had a great time doing it!”
The She-Rantulas cast is only comprised of five actors (Johnson, Melinda Gilb, Andy Collins, Tony Houck and Fred Harlow) each one playing various roles. Yeager will direct, making this the third time he’s directed on the Diversionary stage.
“I’ve directed twice before [at Diversionary],” Yeager said. “[Recently] when they produced Friends of Dorothy and several years earlier I directed when they produced Bent for the first time.”
Johnson had Yeager in mind to direct the piece right from the start, and since their recent collaboration on The Man Who Came to Dinner (at The Coronado Playhouse) was such a success, the chances of history repeating itself could very well be on the cards. Johnson, one of Yeager’s biggest fans, claims there really isn’t anything the man can’t do.
“Ruff and I were looking for something fast, funny and smart to play with, together,” Johnson explained. “Because the project took so long [to create], we actually took a side trip during it and did Man Who Came to Dinner together last year, and Ruff directed. There really is nothing he can’t do. As a playwright, Ruff is so very brilliant as to form, structure and plot – he is also one of the most prolific artists I know in San Diego. I love working with him. Our life’s goal is to be ‘The Captain and Tennille’ of San Diego!”
Cast member, and San Diego favorite, Melinda Gilb has her hands full with this show playing many different, roles. “I will be playing six roles,” Gilb confessed. “Flora Fairchild, Gladys Goforth, Daisy McDougal, Maria (the housekeeper), Roberta Rickenbocker and Louella Lovejoy. All very different. It will be a challenge giving each of them a voice, physicality, and a very quick costume change.”
Gilb is no stranger to original shows (The Grinch Who Stole Christmas/Christmas Carol: A Live Radio Play) and she welcomes the challenge. “I love working on original shows,” Gilb said. “You are creating a character or in this case characters that will have your stamp on it, hopefully. It’s so satisfying giving a piece life and making it work and taking it to the next level.”
It’s clear that Johnson, Yeager and the whole cast have had a great time creating the show. “The cast is absolutely the best in town for this,” Johnson said. “Melinda and Fred Harlow were in that first Bad Seed reading, and we knew we had to have them with us this time – as well as Tony Houck and Andy Collins – I often get to the point of physical pain laughing at them (or trying not to) in rehearsals.”
Whether audiences will enjoy the gender bending ‘50s mash up of film styles remains to be seen. Johnson hopes the audience will “have the best kick-ass time in the world laughing at this and leave with their faces and stomachs hurting from the laughter.”
Yeager, on the other hand, says he hopes the audiences realize “It’s OK to be an alien. It’s OK to be a freak. It’s OK to be an outsider. And if gay aliens ever take over the planet, the word ‘fierce’ is gonna have a whole new meaning, so watch out, earthlings!”
She-Rantulas from Outer Space – in 3D! will take over Diversionary Theatre Oct. 24 and will run through Nov. 17. For tickets you can call the box office at 619-220-0097 or purchase them online at https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/33385
