Known for their outrageous, no-holds-barred camp aesthetic, Hell in a Handbag Productions is taking a slightly more nostalgic and personal journey with Scary Town, their current production.
Embracing some delightfully distorted inspiration from Richard Scarry and his Busytown storybooks, artistic director David Cerda has crafted a tale about his own family dynamics. Smartly, he has colored this personal reflection with such highly animated characters as a Misfits-worshipping bunny and a pansexual worm.
Feeling like a mopey outsider in Merry Town, the seemingly cheery village he resides in, raven-clad Deven Bunny (Colin Callahan) is fast approaching his 13th birthday. Surprisingly, an assignment to investigate his family tree shifts his mood toward a state of actual happiness. The discovery of an unexpected document, though, soon raises some mysterious suspicions and puts him in direct conflict with Betty (Stevie Love), his often-exasperated mother.
Thankfully, Penelope Porcupine (Al Duffy) and Willie Worm (Jerod Turner), Deven’s best friends, agree to accompany him as he ventures into wilder pastures to discover his truth. With Betty and Mrs. Water Buffalo (Ed Jones), Willie’s mother, soon hot on their trail, it seems like even Granny (Danne W. Taylor), Deven’s devoted matriarchal protector, may not be able to save him from the gloriously sleazy, long reaching facts of the past.
Filled with Pat Benatar sing-a-longs, multiple references to Eva Gabor and the gloriously sticky strands of soap opera plotlines, director Cheryl Snodgrass embraces all the glittery aspects of Cerda’s writing. She is aided with pitch perfect zeal by Rachel Sypniewski’s smart costume design, Syd Genco’s detailed make-up work and Maggie O’Brien’s bright and bold props craftsmanship. As a symbiotic quartet they, perfectly, bring the strands of Cerda’s generation hopping queer sensibility to full light.
Snodgrass also works well with the talented cast, many of them part of Handbag’s permanent ensemble. The newcomers, led by Callahan, all shine as well with Sophia Dennis gleefully registering as both Deven’s devoted sister and as Trixie, a gum-snapping barmaid.
Jones, Love and Taylor, meanwhile bring fun, fully layered rhythms to their creations. Jones in particular proves why he is one of Chicago’s most vibrant theatrical treasures.
With special inspiration, the supporting characters played by Scott Sawa and Grant Drager allow both performers plenty of chances to shape personas with subtle yet incredibly fun textures. Sawa, as Devon’s gay uncle Bruce, levels a flamboyant vaudevillian nature with heart sore flourishes. Drager also finds the soft spots among the hardcore complexities of the darkly mysterious Benny Bunny.
The two perfectly illustrate the show’s main point that, despite emotional trickiness and occasional despair, the familial connection, whether fused via blood or circumstance, is the most important thing of all.
Scary Town runs through May 11th at The Clutch, 4335 N. Western Avenue. More information is available at www.handbagproductions.org.