Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – James Hindman’s POPCORN FALLS is a pleasant if generic farce, for two

• By drediman
• October 10, 2018
• No Comments

Adam Heller and Tom Souhrada in James Hindman’s “Popcorn Falls” at the Davenport Theatre. Photo by Monique Carboni.

This week, James Hindman’s comic two-hander Popcon Falls opened Off-Broadway at the Davenport Theater. Using just two actors in a dizzying number of roles, the play tells the madcap story of the survival of Popcorn Falls, a small fictitious American town seemingly in the middle of nowhere. When the quaint municipality’s one source of revenue – a tourist-attracting waterfall which gives the town its name – literally runs dry, the only way the town can financially endure is if it receives an arts grant from the government. But wait! This entails having to putting on a play in in a week. Farcical events ensue, as you can imagine, as the community (which has a cultural aptitude close to nil) endeavors to meet this aggressive deadline.

The show’s tireless acting duo, Adam Heller and Tom Souhrada, do a fine job of bringing the town and its colorful denizens to life. In many respects, the play calls to mind Mikel Murfi’s seriously good pair of one man plays that are currently running at the Irish Arts Center, The Man in the Woman’s Shoes and I Hear You and Rejoice. If Mr. Hindman’s work lacks those plays’ effortless charm and supremely virtuoso performance – in my opinion, Mr. Mrufi is giving one of the most astonishing performances of the fall – Mr. Heller and Mr. Souhrada do their darnedest to buoy the generically-written play through their skillful and vivid animation of its stock characters. Surprisingly, it’s the play’s tender, less comically forceful moments that have stuck with me, a testament to the range of these two actors.

One of the main draws of the show is the production’s director, two-time Tony-winner Christian Borle – he won for his attention-grabbing performances in Pete and the Starcatcher and Something Rotten! – arguably one of the great comic actors of his generation. Popcorn Falls represents one of his first forays into the world of directing (indeed, his work here marks his New York directorial debut). He does a commendable job of pacing and navigating his two fine actors through a maze of shape-shifting characterizations. It’s also to Mr. Borle’s credit that the production comes across as a mostly satisfying (albeit admittedly cliched) dramatic experience, as opposed to merely a comic vehicle for the talented Mr. Heller and Mr. Souhrada.

RECOMMENDED

POPCORN FALLS
Off-Broadway, Play
Davenport Theatre
1 hour, 20 minutes (without an intermission)
Through January 6