Review: Del Shores Is Back Triumphantly with SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF A PLAY

Six Characters in Search of a Play/written and performed by Del Shores/directed by Emerson Collins/Celebration Theatre at the Lex/plays Mondays & Tuesdays at 8 pm through March 27/additional performance on Sunday March 25 at 7 pm; no performance Monday March 5

So many fans know Del Shores as a prolific playwright and screenwriter, and film director and producer, they forget he's also a character actor...and a damn good one. Currently onstage at the Celebration Theatre at the Lex, Shores' new one-man show Six Characters in Search of a Play is hysterically funny ...and ... it's all Shores. The audience gets a chance to see just what a versatile talent he is. Shores's sense of humor is flamboyant but sincere. His first big laugh comes with saying he's a thief, as the idea for the show comes from Pirandello...at least the title. Another big chuckle emanates when he professes to be a storyteller, quoting Mark Twain, "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." What better than a few delicious lies to embellish the anecdotes! After all, he's from the South and Southerners are prone ... to lie.

The six characters are all from Shores' life. Born in Winters, Texas to a Baptist preacher and drama teacher, Shores' relatives as drawn are all practically certifiable, and at one point or other have appeared in his play, film or TV series Sordid Lives. The 85-minute set is akin to a standup in which Shores creates each character using only his voice, body movements and a couple of simple props. Shores displays pictures of a few of them, like the one of his mother Loraine below. This is probably the most touching segment, for in an institution at the end of her life, she took Del's face in her hands and told him that she supported his gay lifestyle and was 'staying around' to care for and protect him. She had named him Delferd and every time she had phoned him, he would hear, "Delferd, it's your mother". His preacher father hated his lifestyle but did tell him that he wanted him to be happy.

Shores distinguishes between good crazy and bad crazy and what a hoot that Loraine claimed that the institution's employees took the senior patients to the basement at night to make a porn movie, and they were the stars. The title? The Orderlies and the Elderies. Good crazy doesn't get any better than that. Loraine left an indelible mark on Shore's personality, as did others with whom he came in contact.

The lesbian who had him sign her tits after a concert, eccentric but lovable Aunt Cissy, the bleach blonde overly made-up waitress Yvonne (pronounced I vonne) at Mama's Daughters restaurant are just a few of Shore's characters, but my favorite is Jimmy Del Watkins (pictured below) the homophobic redneck who turns out to be a latent homosexual. He vehemently objects to the law condoning gay marriage, but admits with no holds barred pleasure that he gets into the film "Magic Mike" because of Channing Tatum (pronouncing it Channing Tator.)

Under Emerson Collin's fluid direction - allowing Shores his own space, Shores turns in a glowing performance.

Del Shores has been attracting gay audiences - let's extend that to say theatre audiences - for over 30 years in LA and winning a crop of awards for his terribly bawdy writing. Here, in this show, he proves his skill as an actor. Like Lesli Jordan, who played Brother Boy, Shores can hold an audience in the palm of his hand. He's a trouper who knows how to make 'em laugh. Don't miss him!

www.celebrationtheatre.com

(photo credit: Mat Hayes)

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