MORE Theatre Company/S.B.’s site-specific artistic vision consistently yields fascinating concepts for their roster of small, original productions. Their most recent show, called Chinwag, pits a bombastic public-access TV show host against a two-woman army of almost-militant feminists. Written by David Starkey and directed by Meg Kruszewska, the play takes place at TVSB, Santa Barbara’s local access television studio, giving audiences a uniquely intimate and immersive experience.
Set in the mid-1970s, Chinwag (also the name of the play’s talk show) features Matthew Tavianini as host (and small-town celebrity) Russ O’Sullivan. He’s a quirky personality with shades of the era’s inevitable polyester lechery that was too easily passed off as humor. O’Sullivan begins his broadcast by introducing his guests: an older woman named Dorothy (Meredith McMinn) and her passionate (if naïve) twentysomething protégé (Alaina Dean). Ostensibly there to spread the good word of feminism, the two hold O’Sullivan hostage with the promise that the contents of Dorothy’s purse are explosive.
Where the script and story run into trouble is the unfocused argument for gender equality, made less potent by its attempt at encompassing too much of the issue. Much of the conversation throughout the show feels less like conflict and more like a lecture on the cursory basics of feminism. Don’t get me wrong — I support the production of work that pushes gender equality, but I’d also like to believe that audiences are ready to sink their teeth into more nuanced, pointed explorations of the issue (unfortunately, it seems that many still struggle with “Feminism 101”). That said, Chinwag does a very nice job of tying the production to the Santa Barbara audience experience. Kruszewska knows that nothing makes a topic seem more relevant than setting it in the scope of the audience’s real life, and in this area of relationship and connection, Chinwag excels.
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