Reviews of shows from the New York International Fringe Festival will appear on ArtsBeat through the festival’s close on Aug. 25. For more information, go to fringenyc.org.
Given that she’s the title character of Cory Finley’s comedy, Brenda Garrison takes a long time to arrive. (Too long.) Rather, it’s her feckless son Wallace (Sam Bolen) who guides us into a cockeyed world that includes his lunkheaded jock roommate, Mike (Bill Coyne), and Jen (Emily Kron), a high-strung co-worker at the Best Cosmetics counter.
Brenda, as it happens, is dead, and Wallace feels bad about missing her funeral back home in Kentucky. That guilt comes to haunt him, most literally when his foul-mouthed mother starts inhabiting his body and, eventually, takes his place onstage in the wonderfully weathered person of Deidre Madigan.
This high-concept premise could go sitcom-zany or Sarah Ruhl melancholy, and Mr. Finley tries a little of each, never settling on a steady tone. Ashley Rodbro’s direction slips and slides along with him; she keeps the action moving through numerous scene changes â€" including a road trip south â€" but leans too heavily on a bulky boxlike unit that cast members valiantly lift and pivot to convey a car, a bar and more.
Mr. Bolen does a nice job with the jitters, but the script stints on the comic possibilities that come with a chance to play half-man, half-Mom. Instead, it’s Mr. Coyne who runs away with his scenes, finding the fervent oddball in a familiar type.
“Brenda†continues through Saturday at the Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, East Village.
