This show is almost impossible to quantify. The fourth collaborative Cincy Fringe effort of Tangled Leaves Theatre Collective, the play is co-written and directed by Robin O’Neal Kissel with all music composed and performed by co-writer Serenity Fisher and her band, The Cardboard Hearts. Centering on historical female pirates and a young girl in 1976 who is fascinated by them, this offers a retro spin with a hip perspective and alternative attitude. The 75-minute show has rousing music and charming performances, but at times strives too much for poignancy and not enough for camp, creating a tonal disparity.
The plot centers on 17-year old Ramona Schmidt (Serenity Fisher) who is about to celebrate both the Boston Bicentennial and her birthday. While investigating an old trunk from her attic with her best friend Davi (Allison Bishop) and her Aunt Winona (Amy Lord Flury), she tries on boots that release the spirits of pirates trapped in purgatory. At the same time, she’s catching a bug for revolution, hoping to recapture the spirit of the founding fathers and the protest movements of the 1960s. She eventually gets herself romantically entangled with Will (Jared Joplin) and a real-life parapsychologist Dr. Hannah Holzer (Missy Williamson), the author of Steal This Book.
The actors are charming and game for a good time, but only Joplin and Bishop seem to understand what kind of play they’re in. Fisher is engaging and injects a lot of vigor into the naive Ramona, but her earnest stretch for deeper meaning doesn’t quite gel. Having also written the play, it’s clear that she wants to draw a thematic connection between the free-spirited pirates of 200 years ago, the American Revolution and hippies of the 1960s and 1970s. But it never quite coalesces. Ideas and imagery such as overcoming the patriarchy and overthrowing capitalism are only given lip service; the idea of pirates as anything more than thieves and murderers seems wrongheaded.
Still, the music by The Cardboard Hearts is wonderful, equal parts jazzy nightclub sleaze, rowdy port pub, Fleetwood Mac Rock & Roll and Tori Amos Pop, their sound and Fisher’s lyrics are immediately catchy and hummable. Fisher also has a great singing voice, as do Joplin (who is also a master of accents) and Bishop, who really steals the show as a sassy firecracker. Too many characters (played by just five actors) overwhelm a plot that’s too ambitious, spanning multiple cities and planes of existence.
Still, it’s fun and funny with a 1970s swagger and high-seas attitude, even if it can’t decide how serious take itself.
BOOTY! will be performed at 7 p.m. June 1, 8:45 p.m. June 2, 8:45 p.m. June 4 and 4:15 p.m. June 7 at Art Academy Commons (1212 Jackson St., Over-the-Rhine).
This article appears in May 28 – Jun 3, 2014.