O Sister, Where Art Thou?

On Saturday night, I saw a wonderful play, by far the most enjoyable in the last several months. Clown duo Morro and Jasp have done several pieces. Though usually highly praised, I have not seen any myself. I am glad I finally saw Of Mice and Morro and Jasp, generally considered to be their strongest yet.

Probably their darkest too. The two clowns find themselves pan-handling, heavily in debt from a previous show. Jasp (Amy Lee) decided that they need to put on a serious play based on Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men despite the fact that it was, in the words of Morro (Heather Marie Annis), "tragical". This didn't suit them but as Jasp kept repeating: "Desperate times call for desperate measures." Desperate because they decided to sink all their money into this last effort; it had to succeed; and the child-like Morro, having only read chapter 1, did not know the ending for her character Lennie.

But it wasn't a grim 75 minutes. In fact, there were often uproarious laughter. Some of it came from set scenes. For example, when the clowns found themselves at a circus (instead of a farm), and were aghast at having to put on "traditional" clownwear such as giant ties, squirt flowers, and floppy arms. Others came from their quick-witted improv as they enlisted members of the audience to play the other characters. But the strength of the piece was the underlying pathos as the dire straits of Lennie and George ("played" by Morro and Jasp) bled into the clowns' actual lives. At one point, Jasp pondered if she wouldn't be better off only taking care of herself.

It was funny, moving, and poignant. A wonderful evening with some talented performers. And don't worry, though their future may still be uncertain, Morro and Jasp wouldn't leave things with an unhappy ending. As the latter pointed out: "Steinbeck has been dead a long time. I think we can change things."