Dark Comedy/Good Laugh

Michael Mello News Editor Fans of the ABC networks TGIF programming, stay at home. Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mammas Hung You in the Closet And Im Feelin So Sad is dark, dark, dark--not for those with sunshine in their hearts. There is a reason why the play has been performed for more than thirty years, and its not because it takes all three decades to pronounce the name of the play. No matter how sophisticated society becomes, there will always be a place for political incorrectness. This is what makes Oh Dad the perfect smirch on CSU Stanislaus squeaky-clean PC image. This is eventually the downfall of the production.
One has to be in the right frame of mind to watch this play; all warm, fuzzy thoughts have to go out the window. With that in mind, however, Oh Dad is a wickedly cunning exercise in black humor. Kelly Waterman plays Madame Rosepettle, a conniving widow in search of a new man to abuse. Along with her emotional baggage, she lugs a coffin containing her late husbands body, fresh from the taxidermist. Joshua Morriston is Jonathan, Rosepettles son, a boy who is extremely scared of his mother, the only woman in his life. The verbal berating his mother constantly gives him causes him to stutter like Porky Pig until he meets Rosalie. Rosalie (Michelle Camarata) is a local miss whom Jonathan spies with his home-made telescope. She plays the Helen to the Rosepettles flimsy Troy.
Watermans Rosepettle starts off the production a tad too strongly, but she soon settles into a rhythm as a coarse, self-righteous soul angry with the world. After the initial storm of Rosepettle moving into her new Caribbean suite, the play proceeds at a slow, steady pace serving mostly to set up a raucously hilarious final act. One has to pay close attention in order to pick up on some of the productions more subtle points; while at other times the humor is blatant slapstick. Even the set is a garish over exaggeration of Caribbean architecture, becoming a running gag that extends itself over the entire feature. Oh Dad, makes use of a very capable ensemble, resulting in a very enjoyable experience.