A Day in the Life of Crazy, presented by We Wear Pants
Productions. At Center Stage Theater, Thursday, August 17.
Reviewed by Morgan Petrovich
We Wear Pants Productions, led by the talented and quirky Macy
Weiser, brought its latest play, A Day in the Life of
Crazy, to Santa Barbara’s Center Stage Theater last week. The
setting was a college dorm room. On the left side, the room was
scattered with an array of slightly offbeat yet fairly standard
female belongings — a broken lighter, a red “drama queen”
bedspread, and posters of Edward Scissorhands and Edvard Munch’s
“The Scream.” Then there were the clocks. Six clocks lined the desk
on the left side, and another one hung on the left wall. The right
side of the room provided a sharp contrast — its bed was crisply
made, the books on the desk were neatly stacked, and all’s in
order. A sign on this side of the room read “Hippies Use Side
Door.” Thus, even before it began, A Day in the Life of
Crazy brought up an interesting point: oftentimes, it is
incredible how much of one’s personality can be reflected in one’s
room — especially if that room is in a college dorm. Once the
action got going, another idea popped up: Innumerable people with
totally different personas can all still fall into the category of
“crazy” — at least as observed by others.
The action centered on some unnamed college students with very
diverse personalities. The main character, whom I will call Ms.
Clock Collector, was played by writer/director Macy Weiser as a
romantic who dwells relentlessly on a distant love interest,
despite the emotional stress he causes her. Ms. CC has a suitor
down the hall, Mr. Nice Guy, who perhaps inevitably finds himself
frustrated and desperate to gain Ms. CC’s attention and affection.
Her roommate, Ms. Control Freak, at first comes off as a sort of
prude, although she went through a transformation in the second
act. Other characters included Ms. Control Freak’s boyfriend,
Pothead; Ms. CC’s eccentric parents; and a very funny psychiatrist,
who sees all the characters in short, often manic, consultation
scenes.
In different ways, these people were all crazy — Ms. CC’s
parents attend monthly swinger parties and vacation at Burning Man,
Ms. Control Freak is obsessed with maintaining order in her life,
and even Mr. Nice Guy breaks a window with his bare hand and makes
a collage out of Prince lyrics. Despite its significant
length — more than two-and-one-half hours — Crazy was lighthearted
and never dull. The characters were comically appealing, and their
shenanigans succeeded in bringing out sympathy for the bizarre
pieces in all of us.