Die Mommie Die
The play I decided to see the play “Die Mommie Die” at the New World Stages on October 10th. I was drawn to this play because the genre sounded interesting. It was described as a comedic thriller and it seemed like an interesting combination. I found out that this play was actually a movie that Charles Busch wrote and starred in. It was written as a spoof of some 1950’s and 60’s films with female characters as killers. They are famous for overly dramatic acting, background projected effects, and “cheesy” lighting. The play came to as a surprise to me because I was unaware of its trans-gendered roles, raunchy acting and, over the top gay jokes. Though I was uncomfortable at first, I believe that the play was successful .
Wednesday night I got ready for the play, not knowing what the next hours were going to bring. I was really excited because it was the night of the first previewed show. I walk into the theatre and was told to go two floors down. As I walk down the steps, I notice that the theatre is designed like a warehouse movie set. It is painted black with signs like “stage 1” “action” and painted pictures of movie reels. I finally reach my destination and find several people talking and eating. I could not tell who worked there and who was an audience member, they all looked alike. I was starting to feel uncomfortable because the only people there were gay men. I stuck out like a sore thumb. I had one ally who was a girl my age and looked very scared and confused. She asked if she was in the right place and I answered yes. Instead of letting the night be ruined, I mingled and everyone was really nice to me. Food was laid out and people were eating. A teenage guy started walking around with a portable concession stand yelling “water, peanuts, popcorn, shots” Thus began my interesting night at the theatre.
The premise of the play is that a dried-up movie star slash singer Angela Arden is in a loveless marriage with movie businessman man Sol Sussman. He finds out that she is cheating on him. Instead of ruining his image with a divorce, he decided to punish her by staying married and basically controlling her life. She kills him by poisoning his constipation medicine. Her two children Edith, daddy’s girl and Lance, momma’s boy, try to prove she killed him. The two other characters of the play are the love Tony and the devout Christian maid, Bootsie. In the quest for truth, old secrets come out and much is revealed. The plot is a mixture of those old movies and a greek play. Information and insinuations are constantly being thrown at the audience. At times, it is very confusing and hard to follow. What makes up for it is the constant jokes and gestures given by all of the actors.
The characters in this play are mostly stock characters with a spin on them. Sol Sussman is a typical Jewish father. He is old and fat with an accent and uses Hebrew phrases. He is concerned with money and is involved with the mob. Edith is a daddy’s girl but Charles Busch made her character in love with her father and crazed. Some of her psycho lines includes “No, one can love daddy like I can” and “I’ll hold his ashes wherever I go”. She is supposed to be this prude virgin but is constantly wearing revealing outfits and engaging in inappropriate acts with her dad. Lance plays the troubled son. This twist on his character is that not only does he have anger problems but, he is gay and dresses up in his mother’s clothing. Angela Sussman is supposed to this larger than life character but you can’t help but laugh when Charles Busch plays the role. Tony is the typical lover, posing as a tennis coach. His twist is that he is actually an FBI agent sent to investigate Angela for the murder of her twin sister, Barbara. He seduces both Edith and Lance to get some information. Bootsie is the typical Christain maid who is always quoting scripture and condemning Angela for her adulterous ways. What makes this character different is that she is an alchoholic who, like Edith, is madly in love with Sol Sussman.
“Die Mommie Die” follows a “well-made play” structure. It has a late point of attack, the beginning just sets up the characters for the audience without revealing too much information. The play is filled with foreshadowing, Angela does not like talking about her past, including her dead sister and failed career. You know something is wrong but are left waiting. The play’s inciting incident is the murder of Sol Sussman where all the characters spring into action, mainly to prove Angela’s guilt. There are a few obstacles in solving Sol’s murder, like Bootsie’s murder, trying to get Angela to confess by spiking her coffee with LSD and the fact that Tony has slept with Angela, Edith, and Lance. The obligatory scene is when Angela is tripping on a LSD high and reveals not only that she killed Sol but that she is NOT Angela but her twin Barbara who killed Angela and took her identity. She reveals how she killed Angela, why she killed her, and that she was the one who loved Sol in the first place. The ending is sort of a cliffhanger because though Angela turns herself in, you never really know what happens to the other characters.
The play started out with a black stage with a scrim out. A projection was played, setting up the ‘50s feel of the play. It should newspaper clippings establishing Angela’s fallen career and told the audience that the play took place in the ‘60s by a slide that read “1963, Today”. The scrim then went up to reveal a set of a lavish living room, stairs leading to the second level, a door to the kitchen, the front door, and a door leading to the patio. This design was genius because it allowed the set to remain the same without taking away from the story line. It also was useful because instead of an actor just walking off to a wing, it seems like they’re either exiting through the front door, going upstairs to their room, going to the kitchen, or going outside to the patio. Never once, do they go out of character, even when they exit the stage. This design allowed them to follow a well-made play format. Lighting was very simple and cheesy with un unsteady spot and quick changes when a character has a “moment of recognition with the audience”. This simple lighting made it that much more fun when Angela is on an LDS trip and the stage is lit with flashes of swirling colors and various gobos.
This ended up being a hilarious and I highly suggest people to go see it if it is still playing.