By Sheila Barth
BOX INFO: Kristen Mendelkoch and an ensemble of Boston stars appear in Lila Rose Kaplan’s comic book, one-act comedy about motherhood and villainy, through May 20:Wednesday, Thursday,7:30 p.m.; Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, Saturday, 4,8 p.m.; May 20, 2 p.m. Merrimack Repertory Theatre, 52 E. Merrimack St., Lowell. $26-$73.Mrt.org, 978-654-4678, box_office@mrt.org.
Shazaam! Kapow! The last great super hero on Earth enters the telephone booth – no, not to change into her super hero costume and fight villainy for the day – but to pump her breast milk to feed her newborn infant son.
Thus begins playwright Lila Rose Kaplan’s feminist superhero farce, “The Villains’ Supper Club,” a satire on comic book super heroes, appearing at Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) through May 20.
The story is silly, the characters, sillier, and the fun, funnier, especially with this agile, energetic cast, directed by multi-talented MRT Artistic Director Sean Daniels. Angie Jepson’s fight choreography and the cast’s physicality are exciting to see. Watching their shenanigans, you know they’re having as much fun on stage as we theatergoers are.
In the title role, Kristen Mendelkoch (remember her versatile performance as several characters in MRT’s ”Lost Laughs: The Slapstick Tragedy of Fatty Arbuckle”?), slams, kapows, pumps, and jumps her way across stage, battling The Little Boss (Maggie Carr), who’s avenging the death of her father by Galactic Girl’s hands.
Our heroine also slams and bams The Flame (Lorene Chesley), The Boss’ lover and partner in crime, who happens to be Galactic Girl’s boss, Ms. Caliente, in her secular job as a news reporter. There are these villains’ henchmen, too: Lee the Leopard, (John Gregorio), the Boss’ brother, who has his own secret history with Galactic Girl; Damian the Dart (Jacob Sherburne),a not-overly-villainous Brit; and Fibian the Frog (Barlow Anderson). Ensemble members also play multiple cameo roles, their rapid changes occurring at dizzying rates.
Apollo Mark Weaver’s set is a hoot, too, designed like a 3-D comic book cutout, its jagged center a large entranceway for Galactic Girl’s appearance. The background panels on both sides have drawings of tilted skyscrapers and images of our heroine’s face emblazoned above. Arthur Oliver’s costumes are snazzy, too.
Yep, the classic comic-book super hero telephone booth is on the side, where our heroine pumps her breast milk to feed her infant baby son. She also calls her pediatrician from there, and checks in with her mother or baby-sitter. It’s her first day back from maternity leave, to her job as a reporter and her sideline of exercising her super powers to keep the planet safe.
Armed with Brian Lilienthal’s arsenal of lights and David Remedios’ accompanying sound effects, the rat-a-tat action keeps theatergoers’ attention glued to the stage.
Kaplan’s inspiration for Galactic Girl sprang from when she became a mother for the first time. In a previous interview, she said, “I wanted to write a comedy about what it’s like to keep a brand new little person alive on no sleep, while also going back to work.” While traveling the country to several of her productions, Kaplan had to pump her milk, tote her baby, and call the pediatrician several times.
“I learned very quickly that new moms are true super heroes,” she added.”My plays shine light on the stories we don’t tell about women… ‘The Villains Supper Club’ is a comic love letter to all the new moms out there.”
