Playwright: Steven Strafford. At: About Face Theatre at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. Tickets: 773-975-8150; www.aboutfacetheatre.org; $35. Runs through: Sept. 28
One-person shows always begin in peculiar, artificial fashion. With no second actor to kick-start the action, the solo performer must directly acknowledge the audience, or pretend the audience isn't there, or pretend the audience is another character. ( "I've been expecting you. Sit down and have some tea." )
Then, depending on the text, the solo performer may play multiple characters or just one. These opening oddities always are self-conscious and can be allayed only by the charisma and charm of the artist. Methtacular author/performer Steven Strafford has plenty of both, engaging the audience directly and playing only himself. He describes other characters and their actions but he doesn't act them out.
These prove to be good choices, since the story of Strafford's methamphetamine addiction is entirely personal but hardly uncommon. His story allows him to range far beyond the somewhat-fey thirtysomething man we initially meet, and display his strong and varied singing voice, fine comedy chops and his ability to change pace and mood ( very nicely shaped by director Adam Fitzgerald ), thus deepening the tale as Strafford relates it.
Since some of us today probably have known people who are substance abusers, much of Strafford's story is neither new nor unique: the euphoric high, the sensuality, the denial, episodes of violence, the lying, the denial, the thievery, the near ( or actual ) prostitution, the psychotic breaks, the denial. Even so, few of us have lived with a meth-dealer lover, as Strafford did, and most snorters don't progress to shooting up, as Strafford did. This boy was in deep.
Frankly, I still wouldn't careI'm not sympathetic to self-enablers ( don't get me started about Rent )if it weren't for the unabashed showbiz pizazz of Strafford's presentation. He's a musical-theater queen who fills Methtacular with pop-culture TV, movie and music references, and snatches of Broadway tunes. He also performs several original songs ( composed by William TN Hall ) such as "I'm Living the Life of a Number Two Wife" and the gospel-tinged "I'm Bringing Down this House of Pain" which expand the showbiz framework, as does a very funny audience-participation game show. In short, Methtacular is slick, well-put-together and never attempts to disguise its artifice. I was put off by that self-referential artifice at first, but Strafford soon won me.
Strafford is graphic in describing sex and drug use, yet never discusses the physical horrors of meth addiction except weight loss. Perhaps he escaped the sores, nasal destruction and gum decay that accompany Tina usage or felt Methtacular was graphic enough without them, although they might persuasively embellish his cautionary tale. But then, I've never understood the allure of party drugs that unleash libido but inhibit erections.