Review: MUFFED at Prologue Theatre

            Sometimes, art is evocative – it holds a mirror up to our lives and our society, helping us explore deeper truths. Sometimes, it’s entertaining – like junk food for your mind and soul. And sometimes, when you’re lucky, it’s both.

            Prologue Theatre’s latest production, joyously, manages to be both fun and thought-provoking, starting with its delightfully insane title: The Meaningful Action Theatre Company Presents A Workshop Reading Of “Muffed: A Recounting Of Farmington, Maine’s 43rd Annual Chester Greenwood Day Devised By The Members Of The Meaningful Action Theatre Company.”

            Zack Peercy’s madcap play evokes the zaniness and earnestness of a small community and the large personalities of its inhabitants straight from the title. It follows a community theater troupe, dubbed The Meaningful Action Theatre Company, as they premiere their workshop reading of their “theatrical journalism” piece on Farmington, Maine’s annual celebration of Chester Greenwood, the inventor of the earmuff. The troupe visited the small northern town ahead of the annual festival, intending to conduct interviews about the events and the community, but ended up witnessing and recording unprecedented disasters around the celebration, from order mix-ups to missing students to objections against the celebration itself. The members of the Company take turns reenacting the events the day before and Chester Greenwood Day based on the interviews they conducted during their visit to the town. Here, too, is a fun approach, with new submissions added to the reading mid-performance, distinct performance styles and choices, and concerns over insurance limiting decisions while company members also wonder if they’re being sufficiently compensated for their time reporting as well as performing (and a number are still waiting on reimbursements). Perhaps it’s because the entry features a gag referencing the sitcom The Good Place, but Peercy’s humorous piece wouldn’t feel out of place among the writings of Michael Schur – Muffed carries the same sincere, thoughtful, and lighthearted touch, and the distinct characters draw laughs while also revealing deep, fascinating layers.

            Muffed is a multifaceted ensemble piece, and it takes a strong performance team to pull off the incredibly detailed production. Robert Bowen Smith takes on Meaningful Action Theatre Company’s high-strung leader, Errol Abernathy, who takes their production deeply seriously, keeping the rest of the ensemble tightly in line, while also trying to balance the demands of the absent Board; there are moments where it seems like he may have an aneurysm on stage from the stress of it all, but that level of anxiety makes him an entertaining character, and his character arc and the vulnerability Smith injects make him a joy to root for. Emily Zinski’s Penelope Anne Palmer seems to be the most adept at keeping the peace between Errol and the rest of the company, even as she has her own clashes with him, and Zinski’s subtle expressions as she interfaces with the other players are delightfully relatable. Smith and Zinski’s reenactment of the two warring brothers their characters interviewed in Farmington are particularly amusing, as is her character’s desire to employ particular performance styles that only increase Errol’s anxiety.

            Continuing on the increasing anxiety track is Jenny Santos, portrayed by Fabiolla da Silva. Jenny is perhaps one of the more talented writers and performers of Meaningful Action, with her segments often evoking the cadence of popular podcasts, but her penchant for missing deadlines is a constant source of upheaval. Da Silva’s bright performance belies this ongoing point of contention, with broad smiles and thoughtful monologues. Surprisingly, Joshua O. Olujide’s Jeremiah Stanton should be an even bigger source of stress for the troupe’s put-upon leader, since Jeremiah spends their time in Farmington and during the production urging a boycott of a major redacted company. Olujide’s earnestness paired with his character’s missteps make for a particularly entertaining combination, and there’s a fun energy around the chronicling of his attempts to lead a boycott on impulse.

            Olujide’s Jeremiah is also a fun contrast to the other activist characters portrayed by the cast: in addition to his own reenactment of conversations with the pensive Gary Lumbard, who reflects on being both openly queer and Black in a place like Farmington, another Farmington activist portrayed is Rachel Johns’ Dakota Vasser, who takes issue with the crediting the invention of earmuffs to Chester Greenfield when his unnamed grandmother did the actual labor in the origin story. Her activism inspires Aron Spellane’s Player, Max Pearse, to start his own petition, and his quiet activism packs a huge punch when his success is revealed. Johns’ main troupe member, Emerson Renee Wright, is also a delightful addition to the team, balancing a keen insight on each member of the troupe with her bombastic reenactment of the campus custodian and unofficial earmuff historian, Willy DuChamp. Likewise, Spellane’s Max is a quiet force among the troupe, but his Sue Tinney is easily one of the most enchanting (and terrifyingly efficient) characters from Farmington.

            The only portrayal that might outshine Spellane’s Sue Tinney is Emily Erickson’s Kate Burrows as Deb in Accounting. Erickson’s Shakespearean take on Deb’s economic woes as she traces the Chester Greenfield Day financial fiascos is utter perfection, and earned applause with each scene. Erickson’s straight approach heightens the overall absurdity of the play, and is somehow entirely apropos.

            Rounding out the cast is Sam Slottow, as Junior Company Member Kyle Montalban-Miller. Slottow infuses a youthful, earnest desire to their performance, creating a believable outsider even as they long to be a part of the full company. Often pushed aside due to the last-minute substitution, Slottow’s character is more heavily in the background than some of the other performers, but they fill the space with perfectly timed movements and expressions, and it's hard not to hope for their acceptance.

            Collectively, the ensemble’s strength is fully immersing the audience in this world. From the moment the cast troops into the little performance space, glimmers of their personalities and mannerisms are clearly conveyed, and their background acting – continuously staying in character even as they move furniture, react to each other’s work, or pursue their own vision for the production – feels realistic without ever drawing attention from the main action. The individual actors play off each other well, and their reenactment characters are all equally distinct, often making it easy to forget this is a scripted play rather than an actual, messy workshop. There’s a controlled chaos at the heart of Muffed, one that cleverly builds a real verisimilitude for the world of their own community, even though they’re telling the tale of another one, and the result is a magical sense of immersion for the audience as well. Meta performances can be risky because a play within a play can sometimes leave loose ends, but this team manages to keep each of their distinct characters fully present throughout the performance, a testament to both the incredibly talented cast as well as the thoughtfulness of Director and Prologue Founding Artistic Director Jason Tamborini, whose careful guidance keeps the show on the realistic side of entertaining.

            Tamborini certainly brings a keen eye to the staging of Muffed, but he’s also responsible for some of the more technical elements as well. In addition to serving as both Director and Technical Director, Tamborini is also the Scenic Designer between Muffed’s immersive set: since the play is set in a community space of a local bookstore, the Prologue team opted to build an exact replica of Arlington’s One More Page Books. The recreation of the bookstore is so convincing, it actually takes a moment to remember it’s a set – a feeling assisted by the "Giant Little Free Library" experience: audience members are encouraged to donate or take books, and any remaining books at the end of the run will be donated.

            Despite the heavy lift of this deceptively simple-seeming production, the Prologue team is carrying well above their weight: in addition to Tamborini, the only main Production Team members are Stage Manager Emilie Knudsen, Production Design Associate Emma E. Smith, and Casting Director Kate Poms. And yet, even with such a small team, the attention to detail in this production is commendable. Beyond the replication of an entire local business, the team provides carefully selected props and costume pieces to help convey each character and reenactment, including branded t-shirts and binders for the Meaningful Action Theatre Company players, quick and iconic jackets and accessories to note specific characters (which makes for extra entertainment when the same Player needs to portray more than one character in the same scene), props that fit both their need and give a “low-budget community production” feel, and, of course, a flipchart filled with increasingly chaotic “muff” puns. The sound and lighting designs were simple and direct, but effective, and the space itself was well-utilized, helping immerse the audience in a way that lent to the authenticity of the workshop feeling. The double-sided program cards, which include QR codes for both the Prologue and Meaningful Action Theatre Company programs, are also a brilliant touch, and absolutely worth exploring (Errol’s especially).

            The Meaningful Action Theatre Company Presents A Workshop Reading Of “Muffed: A Recounting Of Farmington, Maine’s 43rd Annual Chester Greenwood Day Devised By The Members Of The Meaningful Action Theatre Company” is an incredibly clever and fun piece of art, but what really elevates it is the thoughtful, nuanced performances and carefully detailed production elements that Prologue uses to bring it to life. This little play with a big name feels like a dose of much-needed humor these days, not ignoring the political times we live in, but giving us all a moment to breathe and remember that sometimes even the ordinary and the mundane can be beautiful, or, in the case of Chester Greenwood Day, a beautiful disaster. Either way, it’s worth exploring.

Prologue Theatre’s production of The Meaningful Action Theatre Company Presents A Workshop Reading Of “Muffed: A Recounting Of Farmington, Maine’s 43rd Annual Chester Greenwood Day Devised By The Members Of The Meaningful Action Theatre Company” plays through May 18th at Prologue’s theater space in Arlington, Virginia. Production run time is approximately 95 minutes with no intermission, and the show is recommended for ages 16+. Additional performance information, directions, and ticket information can be found on the Prologue Theatre website.