Now For Something Completely Different

Blank Slate
Collaborative Theatre
Artist's Group (CTAG)
at Monkey Wrench Collective
Downtown Fullerton
Directed by RJ Romero
Through Sun. Aug. 28
Four Scoops of Bosco

A favored stunt of small theater groups in recent years involves the submission of story and thematic ideas by audience members, elements then transformed by a theater troupe into a full-fledged production – often in very short order, such as over the course of a weekend.

That's the guiding principle at work with the fledgling Collaborative Theatre Artists' Group (known as "CTAG") with "Blank Slate," the original new show now on stage at the Monkey Wrench Collective theater.

In CTAG's case, the ideas and themes originated with the core ensemble members – about a dozen actors, artists and musicians – who began to develop the show starting in mid- to late June, fashioning a completed script in less than two months.

CTAG founder R.J. Romero, the show's director, states that the purpose of constructing a play in this manner is to meet the challenges and push the boundaries of collaborative writing.

While the CTAG ensemble may have intended the show's title to reflect the nature by which the show came into being, the words "blank slate" actually are apt in a much different way: As a stage play, the show is surprisingly devoid of meaningful content – a loose collection of music, characters and storyline that's still very much a work in progress and has a long way to go before it can be lauded for its artistic merit.

The shame of it is that many of the individual ensemble members are clearly talented. What's not always clear is what each performer's individual strengths are. That leads to the sneaking suspicion that while compiling a play in assembly-line fashion may be an enjoyable process for those involved, for the rest of us poor schmoes in the audience, the finished product is very much a mixed bag.

Though director Romero appears as the vaguely omnipotent General Powers, "Blank Slate" is carried by ensemble members Lew Dentler, Kabir Kamboj, Isaac Kim, Cori Knight, Celeste Lyn, Benjamin Thomas Morrow, Jason Paley, Rae Panas and Robert Ayon Suarez.

This group's members, excepting Dentler, appear to be of college-age (or slightly older). All nine portray counterculture figures rebelling against society. The thin storyline follows this group, which calls itself "The Intrepid Troupe of Traveling Troubadours," as it moves from town to town in a post-apocalyptic world where even the most basic survival needs form often insurmountable obstacles.

After an opening half-hour of whimsical, off-the-cuff improvising, during which Lyn and Panas tap-dance and Kim plays the saw, the story opens with wandering cowboy guitarist Dentler befriending the lonely, frightened Lyn as she wistfully stargazes while singing "Over the Rainbow."

Soon, Dentler has attracted a small following of singers, dancers, actors and musicians about half his age who look to him for leadership and guidance. As Paley notes, "we were drawn to him as if by some unseen power."

The rest of "Blank Slate" follows the troupe as it seeks to subsist solely on its ability to entertain, grabbing up whatever food and drink it can scrounge. It's here that we see the potential of the show to explore intellectual and philosophical themes revolving around survival, religious faith and man's place in the world and the universe.

At this stage, though, "Blank Slate" is still too disjointed to be able to effectively put such points across. While Act Two shows how the small group has jelled into a makeshift family that's eventually worn down by the rigors of fending for themselves, it also points up the script's weaknesses.

"Blank Slate" also misses the opportunity to explore themes revolving around the conflict between military service and personal identity (Suarez's persona is an Iraq War vet who has lost his way in life since his return home) and those which concern political or social leadership (Dentler is murdered by a knife-wielding stranger, prompting the "scrawny misfit" Knight to try to fill his shoes).

The show's second half is also top-heavy with clichés such as "hope is all we got," "togetherness is all this family has," and "life is like a blank slate."

On the plus side, "Blank Slate" works as a showcase for the considerable musical talents of various ensemble members. As a singer, songwriter and guitarist, Dentler is a standout, performing his own original material, but Paley and Kim are also skilled musicians, and the many cast-wide songs are among the show's finest moments.

The print program acknowledges the collaborative contributions of Matt Dallal, Paul Floures, Zach Kanner, Faith Kearns, Hannah Knous, Nicole Sanders and Scott Williams, and it's doubtless that many others were also crucial to the process.

While the members of CTAG may see the show in its current form as good enough to merit 90 minutes of stage time, "Blank Slate" is less a culmination and more of a viable starting point for a hybrid of artistic talent in the service of, yet still in search of, a potent message or two.

Reviewed by Eric Marchese
Mr. Marchese writes for Orangecounty.com