It’s Not Easy Being Green presents a pleasant series of sketches about sustainability. Over the course of little over an hour, Green finds the right balance of humor and environmental messaging.
Matt Dewberry, who opens the show with a cutely choreographed dance set to the title song, offers an innocent charm when paired with Azania Dungee in “Use Unknown.” Both shine in Ali Watson’s cleverly conceived piece set a century or three down the road from today. Dewberry, decked out in a silver jacket and leggings, teal skirt, and a headband can’t stop staring at Dungee in her freakish clothes—jeans and a t-shirt. She’s reading a book, something he’s never seen before, as she awaits teleportation to her job at the Humana Museum. The skit provides a thought-provoking sci-fi look into what the future might look like, where future generations upload data, go on virtual vacations and cyber dates, and join “first-gen hate groups,” but have abandoned personal connections and most human emotion.
A bubbly blue recycle bin (a delightful Mary C. Davis) and her foil, a grungy yet sultry trash can (Carolyn Sagatov), cover every last virtue and hypocrisy of waste disposal. A putrid Sagatov cuts Davis down to size, though they find something they can agree on – how dreamy the compost bin is.
An activist wife and corporate husband give global warming the same treatment, covering both sides of the issue over the course of an argument, as they deliberate whether to buy a new hybrid car. Overall, it’s a well written and acted effort from the Journeyman Theater Ensemble, whose intention is to create art on social and moral issues that challenge and inspire. While the points the sketches hit may not be new for the most seasoned of environmentalists, some may find a new way of thinking about “green” issues. At the least, they’ll find a lighthearted, alternative presentation of environmental concerns.
It’s Not Easy Being Green (directed by David Binet; approx. 70 min.) is at Redrum at Fort Fringe Sat., July 18 at 10:00 p.m., July 22 at 7 p.m., and July 24 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available online
