Eat the Runt

According to Chris Jones, theater critic for the Chicago Tribune, "Eat the Runt" is "one of the worst titles in the history of American theater."

But we thought "Eat the Runt" sounded like a hilarious title. So off we went. We laughed a lot. It's wild, and it has some major plot twists.

"Eat the Runt"
Features a stunt
Right up front.

The stunt is that the audience, by electronic voting, casts the parts of the script. For each part you assign an actor from the pool. Then you cast the next part from the remaining pool. Eventually one actor is left, with no designated part.

Each actor has to know all the lines, and all the movements, for every part!

The play is written in a unisex style, with unisex names. But the actors play their own genders, and races. So the dynamics of the performance vary widely. It's so novel that it's actually hard to describe.

We were surprised to find Ayn Rand coming under discussion in the play. I'm not really sure if the playwright likes her or not, but some funny pro and con things were said. It's another example of her becoming just another cultural icon that people are presumed to know about, at least in outline.

There was a presidential poll before we cast the actors, to test the electronic voting. We had a 3 way tie between Obama, Giulani, and None of The Above. I was happy to see my choice do so well.

The actual plot, by the way, is about an applicant for a job at a museum, and the intrigue that ensues. Its portrayal of museum management is highly irreverent.

So, to be blunt,
I liked "Eat the Runt".