BWW Reviews: Existential SIDEWINDERS from Fantastic Z Feels Overblown

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you have a story to tell then tell it. Existentialism is fine but don't pack in a bunch of superfluous seemingly non sequitur dialog and lose your meaning as a result. Such is the problem with Fantastic Z's current production of "Sidewinders" over at Richard Hugo House. They may have wanted to discuss gender issues but the story got lost.

In Basil Kreimendahl's play we meet Bailey and Dakota (Jessica Severance and Katya Davida Landau), a soldier and a cowboy who have found themselves in this mysterious wild west land where the train tracks just stop. And while Dakota seems focused on how they will get out of there, Bailey is having a personal crisis in that they don't know Bailey's gender. So while they try to figure that out they encounter Sandy (Patrick J. Lucey-Conklin), a wise being with an overabundance of body parts and Sandy's assistant Sam (Kurt Langmeyer) who has a talent for reengineering people.

If it sounds like I'm trying not to use pronouns like he or she well it's just part of the literary style of the show as their gender identities are unknown. I, however, will stop doing that as it's exhausting to write that way. The play itself does have its interesting moments but it basically amounts to a bad take off of Beckett except for rather than talking about when Godot will arrive and examining the nature of God, they talk about their genitals and the nature of gender. And while Beckett is a master of saying one thing and meaning another, Kreimendahl is not. So much of the play is just unnecessary pontification for the sake of being existential and becomes quite repetitive and ultimately confusing. I'll admit I'm not a fan of the existential but only because it's often done badly and without meaning. And while the meaning is present in "Sidewinders" it gets obscured by overblown language and how many times the author can have the characters say "fuck".

Putting the play aside however, the production is quite solid. The performers do what they can with the script and turn in quite good performances. Severance and Landau make for wonderful old west buddies each with a very distinct character and commit wholly to the roles with a very likable air. Langmeyer has some wonderful comedic moments as he attempts to hang himself. And Lucey-Conklin has quite a formidable presence as he struts around the stage dispensing wisdom. I just wish they had something more coherent to tell us.

Fantastic Z is a new company in town dedicated to dealing with LGBTQ issues and stories and I applaud that. But here's hoping they find some better scripts that just want to tell a story in the future as "Sidewinders" did not which is why I'm giving it a perplexed MEH with my three letter rating system. In theater as in life it's often best to follow that acronym KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid.

"Sidewinders" from Fantastic Z Theatre Company performs at Richard Hugo House through August 1st. For tickets or information visit them online at www.fantasticz.org.

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