Quite A Party

Mixed Blood Theatre's "Crashing the Party" delivers a fair amount of laughs -- and a bite of cake to enjoy on your way out

Mixed Blood Theatre's "Crashing the Party" is built around a common storyline: mundane plans that don’t go according to plan.

Image credit: Rich Ryan/Mixed Blood Theatre

Recommended by the Editor

Mixed Emotions

Dialing In

By: Morgan Halaska

Going to a show that’s never been staged before leads to a certain amount of anxiety.

But Mixed Blood Theatre’s Crashing the Party – which premiered on Friday and runs through March 4 – provides little reason for apprehension. 

Director Sarah Rasmussen’s production is in fact seamless, coming off as if it had been on the stage for years. The cast’s chemistry is also immediate and contagious. As an audience member, it was one of the more enjoyable and mirthful theater experiences I’ve had. And I wasn’t alone: the audience laughed, gasped, hooted and hollered at all the right places (and personally, because I am a slave to closed-captions, a little prematurely once or twice). Accolades were bountiful after the curtain call.

The recipe for this success is a tried-and-true plot – mundane plans that don’t go according to plan, leading to inevitable hilarity – and a familiar theme, the aspirations and pitfalls of the American dream. Playwright Josh Tobiessen’s brings a fresh approach to each element, delivering a story that is anything but cliche.

His story unfolds when David Martin (Joe Minjares) announces his retirement to his family at the surprise birthday dinner that his son’s over-eager girlfriend (Rose Le Tran) orchestrated. Martin arbitrarily decides that one of his two sons, 32-year-old Arthur (Rolando Martinez), who still lives at home and David Jr. (Ricardo Vázquez) who’s a novice to the working world, will succeed him as president of the family company. Control, he decides, will go to the winner of a no-rules wrestling match.

The family is soon to learn of Martin’s embezzlement—the whistle blower being junior accountant Eleanor (Laura Esposito). Mo Perry (esteemed METRO columnist) plays the FBI agent in charge of arresting Martin, and is truly a ham. “Officer” Franco (Ansa Akyea) is a stripper in the guise of a policeman, who allows Martin’s wife Catherine (Sally Wingert) and everyone else by proxy to believe he is really a policeman.

When Arthur voices his discomfort upon realizing the source that provided him with his cushy life is not pure, Martin defends his actions by saying, “You deserve what you accept,” and Arthur accepted it all, no questions asked. It’s a relevant question that goes beyond this particular story and straight to the question of how the American dream evolves from generation to generation. And if ever there was a time to explore such a theme, this is it.

In the end, this 80-minute, intermission-less play achieve exactly what you should hope to achieve over the course of a night at a party – an introduction to an interesting person or two, a fair amount of laughs, and, yes, some cake to enjoy on your way out. Even if you pass on the cake, you’ll still leave with a great taste in your mouth.

+ Mixed Blood Theatre’s Crashing the Party continues through Sunday, March 4 at Mixed Blood Theatre. For more information visit mixedblood.com.