To appreciate the Garage Theatre’s production of John Glore’s The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, you probably need to meet at least one of two preconditions: 1) a love of Looney Tunes-style humor, and 2) fond remembrance of the John Scieszka/Lane Smith Caldecott-winning children’s book from which the play is drawn. I’d never heard of the book, and even as a kid I didn’t find Bugs Bunny and pals especially funny (despite watching them for God knows how many hours), so digest this review cum that particular grano salis.
The Stinky Cheese Man is an exceedingly simple work, consisting of little more than the slightly twisted retelling of several classic fairy tales (the Ugly Duckling, the Princess and the Pea, etc.). A minor bit of metafiction casts Jack (he of the big beanstalk; played by Craig Johnson) as narrator, and several fairy-tale characters make cameos in others’ tales (such as when Rumpelstiltskin finds his way into Cinderella’s world).
Paging through The Stinky Cheese Man book for the purposes of this review, it seem that Glore has added little besides music, which is mostly just famous classical pieces with simpleminded words thrown onto the main motif, such as you’ve heard done hundreds of times with the opening of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.
One thing Glore can’t incorporate is the book’s striking artwork. Neither can the Garage Theatre. As always, the Garage make their tiny space serviceable, but visually there’s not a lot going on with this production.
That leaves it to the actors to make The Stinky Cheese Man work, and no doubt they infuse their multiple roles with sufficient cartoonish energy. Sally Nguyen is a standout from her first moments on stage as Chicken Licken (a.k.a. Chicken Little), but everyone is good. The ensemble highlight is a gangsta rap number featuring the Ugly Duck (Nori Tecosky, who can quack with the best of them). “Word to your mallard.”
That’s it? you’re asking as your gaze reveals how little is left of this review. Indeed it is. There’s no plot, no character development about which to write. The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales is by design a superficial entertainment and perhaps a nice nostalgia trip for a certain demographic. It also fits squarely within the Garage Theatre tradition of closing each season with something simply silly. Maybe that’s just what you need at a time when each mention of the phrase “president-elect” makes your gorge rise. Just don’t buy a ticket expecting anything more.
THE STINKY CHEESE MAN AND OTHER FAIRLY STUPID TALES THE GARAGE THEATRE • 251 E 7TH ST (JUST OFF LONG BEACH BLVD) • LONG BEACH 90813 • 562.433.8337 THEGARAGETHEATRE.ORG • THURS-SAT 8PM + SAT 2PM • $15–$20 (THURSDAY TIX ARE 2-FOR-1) • THROUGH DECEMBER 17
(Photo credit: FreshFrameFoto.com)