The first thing you will notice upon approaching the Broom Street Theatre, 1119 Williamson St., is a foreboding feeling of horror. This feeling can only be conjured by the realization that the playhouse is less a theatre and more a creepy garage, staggered just far enough from the street to make yelling \help"" futile. Relish this sentiment while you can-you will soon be longing for it.
From Sept. 23 to Oct. 30, the Broom Street Theatre presents ""667: The Number of the Neighbor of the Beast."" The show, a satire written and directed by Brian Wild, follows the life of nine eccentric denizens of Hometown, USA, in the two weeks leading up to Halloween.
The play opens in Janice Rohmer's (Sherrie Johnson) modest small-town living room during a Tupperware party. In attendance are Janice's friends Peg (Terry Lane) and Charles Whitman (Scott Rawson), who appear to have been ripped directly from ""Married with Children;"" collegiate chicana Maritza Castillo (Frannie Lyons) and smarmy sales lady Sora Thorne (Heather Renken).
Several other characters seem to enter and exit the Rohmer house on a whim, including the gardener Leo Verita (Callen Harty), Maritza's father Huburt Costillo (Frand??) and Mary Warren (Siobh??n Edge), the pungent elderly Irish neighbor whose arrival prompts a quick end to the party.
Shortly after everyone leaves, Walden Rohmer (Brendan Hartman), Janice's peeping-tom son is brought home in a squad car by Officer Earl Grey (Brian Wild). Having become a bit of a discipline case since the death of his father, Walden likes nothing more than to stir up trouble. Soon he bites off more than he can chew, when he starts spinning a yarn about mysterious new neighbors who have moved into the creepy house next door.
Sound like too much? That is the chief problem with this show. It feels like the writer of ""667"" could not make up his mind about the direction he wanted his show to take. Unreliably reminiscent of B-horror movies, murder mysteries, satire, serious drama, social commentary and comedy-none of which are the better for it-""667"" spends most of its time making the audience ask itself, ""Is this intentionally funny?""
Of course this question would not be an issue if the comedic moments in the show actually involved comedy. Short of resorting to puns, ""pie-in-face"" gags or fart jokes, this show seems to have hit rock bottom of the comedy well. The comedy always goes on much longer than needed and is filled with bad double entendres and dull comic chases which feel oddly reminiscent of a bad ""Scooby Doo"" episode.
To blame the script entirely, however, would be wrong. ""Unnatural"" seems to sum up the actors perfectly. Excusing Harty, whose performance as the gardener was actually quite enjoyable, the actors suffered from making caricatures out of characters. While this type of acting usually works in satire, ""667"" just does not commit enough of itself to being satirical. To this end, the viewer is constantly confronted with overacted lines leading to awkward silences while the actors wait for laughter.
From the first irrelevant plot tangents-most of which have no resolution-it is apparent that ""667"" cannot live up to all that it promises. Jumping randomly from comedic to serious to mysterious is no way to present a show, nor is it engaging for the audience. Like the fourth grader who comes in last during the mile run, ""667"" reeks of effort and good intentions, but still took far too long.
