The Furious Theatre Company presents “No Good Deed” written by its own playwright in residence Matt Pelfrey and directed by Damaso Rodriguez at “Inside the Ford” now through February 26, 2012. This is absolutely not grandpas stage play.
It’s wild, often funny and over the top. It is Anime on stage. It is the pages of a graphic novel, known in my day as a comic book, that spills forth upon the stage in a blazing cacophony of sight and sound. In summary it is a look at how modern television news can, with its shallow excesses, destroy lives. This is a multi-media presentation and it is quite unlike anything else you have ever seen. Love it or hate it “No Good Deed” will remain indelibly etched on your brain as one of the most unique and daring theatrical performances in the history of theatre.
The show opens with a couple of very typical high school boys chatting about art and girls and one boy’s graphic novel. From that benign start the novel unfolds at a blazing pace. It is clear that Josh Jason, played by Nick Cernoch, is deep into his fantasy world of super heroes perhaps in part due to his being bullied. One day he stumbles upon an opportunity to do a heroic deed. Two other characters are brought into the circle of heroes, one a fireman who rescues a very young child and the other a security guard who saves many lives when he finds an explosive device in a stadium. What happens to these three heroes is gist of this story.
All three leap from unknown to near super star status through a sensation hungry media that includes Jay Leno, David Letterman. a female television talk show host and local field reporters. The result is validation of the old phase, no good deed goes unpunished. Eventually the three come together with the purpose of undoing their good deeds so they might return to more normal lives.
There is a lot of humor throughout this show and it is never, not for a nano second ever dull. There is also a very strong lesson about the down side to fame. The acting is very good with several flashes of brilliance. This is truly high praise given the challenging nature of this show. Danny Diamond, security guard played brilliantly by Troy Metcalf tickled my brain as a story I thought I heard about once before. Then I happened to read a little note from the playwright in the Play Bill. There it was the answer to my unresolved memory – Richard Jewel. If you do not know that name, he was a security guard who during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia discovered a bomb, alerted the police and helped evacuate the area and saved many lives. He became a hero, then he became a suspect and the media shredded him. He was eventually cleared but his public humiliation almost certainly left indelible pain upon him.
So there is some good truth in this play and a whole lot of entertainment value. But it is not for everyone. First of all young children should not attend because of language, violence and drug use. Also folks who are mentally inflexible as this show will stretch and yes sometimes even trouble your mind. Again it is certainly very different and over all very entertaining.
“No Good Deed” is playing now through February 26, 2012 at the [Inside} the Ford theatre, 2580 Cahuanga Boulevard East, Hollywood, CA 90068. For reservations and ticket information either visit http://fordtheatres.org or call 323-461-3673
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