japhyjunket
THE SIDEBAR


9.25.2002
Theatre Review: No Friend of Mine: “Befriending Beau” It seems that Tash (Adam S. Barta), the hero of the recently revised, self-professed “cult classic” ‘Befriending Beau’, now playing at Café Chashama, can’t seem to get a break. His best friend, whom he desperately wants, is a sexually confused heroin addict prone to didactic monologues about the nature of humanity. His mother is unloading him on his estranged father, so that she can move to Vegas with her rich new “boyfriend of the week.” His ‘zine about “being fucked up” called ‘Splain has only sold fourteen copies. When he picks up the phone to call Beau, the phone doesn’t ring for a good minute or two. Yes, even the sound operator seems to be working against poor Tash. That this play has survived three productions; first at HERE, then at the NY Fringe Festival, and now its current incarnation as part of The Chip Deffaa Invitational Festival, implies that someone, somewhere, believes in this play…or likes to see naked boys blather on about drug use for two hours; perhaps N.A.M.B.L.A is an investor. At one point, we learn that Tash has done some gay porn, videotaped by an old leach named Mark. When Mark calls on the phone (this being L.A., everyone always talks to each other by phone, never really meeting. Oh, how isolated we all are! Oh, how the director/writer, David Gaard, feels the need to belabor this point!) his voice is so oddly distorted that you are left wondering when it was Darth Vader got into the porn industry. It’s far too easy to take pot-shots at such an ill conceived work, and also, a little unfair. The two men that comprise the heart of “Beau” are actually quite good. Mr.Barta’s ‘Tash’ is so sweetly naïve and unaffected, despite his attempts to be otherwise, that you can’t help feeling for him. Even when the playwright’s dialogue turns him into a pathetic, needy vampire, Barta is able to wring out a little bit of sympathy for his completely unsympathetic character. Joshua Decker plays the eponymous ‘Beau’ like a drug-addled Cary Grant, desperate, but oh-so-charming. Playing a drug addict is a perilous task for any actor, and Mr. Decker demonstrates wisdom beyond his years in playing Beau without pathos. His drug addiction is not the root of his problem; it is the expression of his problem. This all brings us to Ashley Sansone. Sansone plays 'Chili', the young drug dealer who completes this trifecta of teenage troubles. Alternately a confidante to Tash, a lover to Beau and, utterly inexplicably, an administrator of drug/sex questionnaire’s to both, Ms. Sansone is breath of fresh air. Where Barta and Decker try to imbue the play with meaning and value, Ms. Sansone has clearly put no effort into her performance, repeatedly looking at hand-written notes for lines, using her Minnie-Mouse-on-dope voice to disguise her complete lack of commitment to this ridiculously unfocused play. Ms. Sansone’s dreck is what ‘Befriending Beau’ deserves, but my hat is off to Barta and Decker for trying to turn mud into pearls. Befriending Beau is playing at Café Chashama (111 42nd St.) through October 14th. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased by phoning Smart-Tix at 212.206.1515




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