Review: 'Hysterical Friction' lives up to its
name with flashes of wit
KAREN SHADE World Scene Writer
03/01/2006
Tulsa World (Final Home Edition), Page D2 of Arts
Lane Riosley is a very generous playwright.
In her play "Hysterical Friction," which continues its two-weekend run on Thursday at Heller Theatre, she gives us two heroines fighting their own natures, a historical-romance-murder mystery and Belle, a French dwarf detective hunting Jack the Ripper.
Fortunately for the audience, everything takes place in a two-car garage where Kate and Nora hash out and act out the details of their Harlequin-esque collage-of-a-novel to hilarious effect.
The role-playing is funny, but you also get a feeling of being cheated out of getting to know these women better.
The winner of Heller's 2005 original play contest, "Hysterical Friction" originally was to open Thursday, but the opening was pushed to Friday mainly to allow time for Kara Saunders' voice to heal after laryngitis.
During Thursday night's invitational dress rehearsal, however, Saunders was in fine form playing the heady Nora, the partner who has the business know-how to publish fiction. Once she and Kate, played by Annie Ellicott, get into plotting the book and drawing its characters, Nora spends much of her time trying to rein in Kate's free-spinning imagination.
Kate's mind is the ever-flowing fountain of fiction in this duo. Flighty and a little flaky, Kate is given to wildly acting out the stories. The women make an unlikely team, but then we learn how they have come together. I won't spoil it for anyone.
What isn't shown as well, however, is Nora's personality as it changes through the show. You get to hear both women's problems, sure, but the interactions that are essential to showing the transformation are confined to time between descriptions of dark streets or London fog.
It's funny, but I think Riosley wanted to say more, wanted us to care more about these women.
One of the most satisfying sections of the play is near the end when we learn what really eats at Nora. After the climax, does that information matter as much?
"Hysterical Friction" stays true to what its title hints -- a comedy piece with flashes of wit, but the play often loses the deep insight into these women's lives and their friendship.
The play continues at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday at Heller Theatre, 5328 S. Wheeling Ave. For more information, call 746-5065.
Karen Shade 581-8334
karen.shade@tulsaworld.com
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