One is based on the true story of Genie Chance, a woman who steadied the city of Anchorage during the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964. The other is clearly inspired by another true American story, a famous literary hoax. Both are productions of the Maybe You Like It theater company, based in Cornwall, England. There is no maybe about it; I definitely do like them, “Down to Chance” was one of my favorite shows at last year’s Fringe; I am so delighted at its return this summer that I am reposting a streamlined version of my review, in hopes of its helping to draw the full house that the production deserves.
It was because of “Down to Chance” that I rushed to see “Whatever Happened to That Guy?” – which turns out to be double-edged, because it forces a contrast. While the actors exhibit the same quick-change artistry, none of it is done with as much sparkle or to as much purpose.
Whatever Happened to That Guy?
The names and the circumstances are changed, but “Whatever Happened to That Guy?” is clearly a riff on the faking of the autobiography of aviation pioneer and reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes by author Clifford Irving, who served jail time for the crime. Hughes is now (fictional) reclusive movie star Guy Wesley. This allows for more flexibility, giving the company an excuse to satirize celebrity fan culture and the Hollywood industry, sometimes darkly. But it also feels less fresh, and lowers the stakes.
Cut dead by her publisher when her second book didn’t sell, writer Bee Leigh (Maggie Moriarty) schemes to fake the autobiography of Guy Wesley, who hasn’t been seen in public for twenty years, enlisting the help of her unemployed brother Andy (Robert Merriam) and sister-in-law Julia (Ellie Jay Cooper.) The process of putting it together turns them into world-travelers, sleuths and sneaks.
To do research for the book, they watch videos of old interviews with Guy, episodes of his long-running sitcom and especially Guy’s old films, which gives the excuse for the three actors to do quick-change sketch comedy, the highlight of which are lightning-quick excerpts from different Hollywood genres — a gangster film, a romcom, a Western, war film, a Spielbergian adventure film, a detective story, a sport saga, a courtroom drama.
There is an effort here to make some points about American culture, but nothing we haven’t heard before. I think I detected a split-second hint of “Citizen Kane” another of “A Star Is Born,” but they were so faint I might be making that up,
***Whatever Happened to That Guy? Is performing through August 31 at Ace Dome at Pleasance Dome as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Down to Chance
What is initially impressive about this dramatization of the true story of a sustained act of bravery during an earthquake in Alaska in 1964, is the cleverness and dexterity with which the two performers (Ellie Jay Cooper and Robert Merriam), under director Caleb Barron, portray some twenty characters, seamlessly switching from one to another to another with the addition of a hat or scarf or jacket (grabbing the needed accessory without our even noticing from a rack on stage) or with merely a shift in voice or posture.
But “Down to Chance” winds up becoming a riveting drama, driven by a genuinely challenging ethical dilemma.
The play, written by Cooper based on extensive research, tells a true story that focuses on a woman named Genie Chance, whose husband Winston had moved the family up from Texas five years earlier. She has gotten a job on a local Anchorage radio station, her tasks usually no more taxing than what she was planning to cover this particular day, a local parade on Good Friday. Then the earthquake hits — at a magnitude of 9.2, still the second most powerful earthquake ever recorded. Despite the dismissive attitude of those around her because of her gender, she not only takes charge in informing the public, but helps organize them, coordinating volunteers to clear the main street, and serving as point person for those who take their own initiative, such as Walt Sauerbier, a crusty eccentric who operates a ham radio and is able to make contact with operators outside Alaska.
“Down to Chance” becomes a serious, high stakes gamble, the title taking on two meanings, when Genie learns that there might be a second earthquake coming that would be even worse than the first. Should she tell her listeners?
Kudos to this British theater company for plucking a now-obscure moment from American history and making it matter.
*****Down to Chance is performing through August 25 at Beside at Pleasance Courtyard, part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
