Play satirizes family life with dark view of urban violence

In Jules Feiffer’s tragicomedy “Little Murders,” now playing at the Penobscot Theatre, urban violence shatters the sheltering standards of American middle-class existence and becomes the means of survival in an uncaring and unsafe world of snipers. The play is terrifically satirical about marriage, religion and family life, but is also unforgivably dark and apocalyptic, especially considering the current events simmering in the Middle East.

The not-so-little murders of the show are set in New York, where blackouts, bolted doors, bloodshed and obscene phone calls reign supreme. At the center of the story is the Newquist family, a middle-class clan drowning in alcoholism, repressed sexuality and sublimated aggression. Behind the proper manners and pleasantries, Dad is a homophobe, Mom is nymphomaniac, daughter Patsy is a bully and son Kenny is a transvestite. In short, the Newquists turn the term “domestic bliss” into a Freudian nightmare.

The story kicks into motion when Patsy brings her boyfriend Alfred home to meet the family. Hardly an exemplar of normalcy, Alfred labels himself an “apathist,” and quite literally adopts a turn-the-other-cheek approach to violence. By fading into a dream state, Alfred ignores the painful blows of Central Park muggers and complacently goes about his job as an award-winning photographer who specializes in photos of feces.

Although the play comments most dramatically and comedically on the malaise and discord of the Newquist family, the story is really about Alfred and his transformation from a pathologically misled martyr to a barbaric killer. Beyond satire and absurdism, the play plunges into tragedy by the end. In a most disturbing final scene, the family adopts the code of violence and is gleefully united as they stand before their living room window and pass around a rifle, cheering as each guns down passersby.

At times very funny and campy, the Penobscot production is mostly disjuncted and cluttered. Using imagery from four different decades (1960s-1990s), director Vasek Simek paints too broad a canvas. Feiffer, who is perhaps better known as an editorial cartoonist, wrote this play in the 1960s as a response to the political ferment that arose from Vietnam, civil rights, and the assasinations of the decade. Simek dilutes rather than strengthens the cogency of these issues with contemporary allusions and titillating stereotypes.

Technical errors such as poor lighting and amplified music (that overpowers the actors’ voices) detract from the production. In general the characterizations are uneven or ineffectual, which might be expected after only 11 days of rehearsal.

Despite the distractions, however, several performances are particularly entertaining. As Mrs. Newquist, Tina Young delivers a solid and delightfully outrageous character. In the small but conspicuous role of a somewhat overawed minister, Stephen McLaughlin captures attention with a hilarious monologue. And John Erickson as Mr. Newquist demonstrates credible, controlled acting and reliable comic timing.

At its best moments, the play offers viewers some hearty laughs and pertinent questions, but falls short of making meaningful political commentary or of diverting attentions from the already bleak events that face America today.

“Little Murders,” written by Jules Feiffer and directed by Vasek Simek, will be performed 8 p.m Friday, 5 and 9 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday through Jan. 26 at the Penobscot Theatre. For tickets, call 942-3333.