Erin Harrington reviews The Good, The Bad, and The Completely Made Up, directed by Brendon Bennetts, at Little Andromeda, 2 June 2023.
In The Good, The Bad, and The Completely Made Up, Rhiannon McCall improvises a terrific hour-long comedy Western in which she out-shoots John Wayne, out-squints Clint Eastwood, and outwits the combined cast of Blazing Saddles. McCall is dressed in a cowboy hat and a tasseled shirt, and in full cheerful “howdy y’all!” thigh-slapping mode. Upstage, (don’t-shoot-the-)pianist Criss Grueber acts as muso, gunshot expert, and occasional fall guy. His improvised soundtrack channels the janky tone of a well-loved player piano as much as it does Ennio Morricone’s sweeping back catalogue.
McCall demonstrates some serious improv and physical comedy chops as she flicks through maybe a dozen characters across multiple settings. The show’s clever structure, as directed by Brendon Bennetts, braids multiple storylines, inflected with clearly-articulated genre beats and mini set-pieces, into an impressively-layered narrative that’s driven by both action and character. Initial conversations and ask-fors give us a setting (Putrid Springs, population 70), a notable place (a sauna and day spa, suitably smelly), and a title. Tonight, it’s The Considerate, the Naughty, and the Stinky, all scribbled up on the wall. These give us character dispositions that will help facilitate action and decisions, and structure gags, including the inciting incident. Three grizzled bandits persuade kind-hearted Sheriff Buck to release them from jail because Buck just can’t help but consider things from both sides. The sheriff must restore safety to the town, defeat a secret scheme, and learn to harness his softness for the good of the community. Audience members are wrangled (so to speak) to help with things like sound effects and speech making, which in turn shape the final showdown.
Narratively and thematically, the show ticks all the boxes on the ‘peak Western’ bingo card. Goodies and baddies! An ingenue and a hero! Wicked plots and small-town machinations! Shoot outs and chases! High stakes peril! It’s densely packed but legible, even as McCall’s dozen or so rubbery comedy accents bounce around (often to comic effect). Her warmth and enthusiastic style of performance make us feel as if we’re getting to see behind the curtain of the world’s in-the-moment creation.
McCall and Grueber also make a great double act. Their relationship is sweet and warm, with a sense of spontaneity. At times it’s uncertain if McCall has cheerfully set Grueber up to take a few comic falls or if we’re all just caught up in the schtick; in any case he’s game.
The Good, the Bad and the Completely Made Up is the sort of high-energy show that seems to dance between controlled genius and outright seat-of-the-pants chaos. It’s enormously fun in the moment, and really quite impressive with a bit of hindsight. The night I attend the sold-out audience is enthusiastic and really rowdy, but McCall deftly holds the space, gobbles up the energy and charms some real loose cannons into submission. A woman in front of me looks like she’s going to choke she’s laughing so hard; lots of others jump to their feet at the end. One guy yells ‘encore!’ but I don’t think that’s how improv works. Anyway, just like any good Western, you can just ride into another show, and another town, for another story. Yeehaw.
The Good, The Band, and the Completely Made Up played at Little Andromeda 2 – 3 June 2023, and next plays in Auckland at Basement Theatre from 6 – 9 June.
Flat City Field Notes 