I stupidly went into Epic Theatre Company’s Lizzie Borden, Lizzie Borden expecting something along the lines of campy 1970s sitcom Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, because why else would the play have a name like that? Instead, I spent 90 minutes watching a postmodern time travel saga where Lizzie Borden switches identities with one Dolores Haze. Yes, that one. Writer/director Kevin Broccoli throws a lot of information at the audience, and only occasionally does it make any sort of logical sense. (Nabokov jokes, sure! HAIM karaoke… huh?) Vivienne Carrette does Lizzie in the style of Amanda Palmer, Tammy Brown does a fine job with a really baffling role, and Vanessa Paige spends the whole second act using a cutesy baby voice that is legitimately nightmare-inducing. Intentionally, I think.
There’s a lot of Kevin Broccoli happening this week, incidentally. In addition to the RISCA Writers Night, Counter-Productions Theatre Company is currently staging his play The Married Name.
