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No stranger to the arts scene in Hampton Roads myself, particularly the theater circuit, I have to say I’m still amazed that the Hampton Roads area has such a wealth of theatres, galleries, and cinemas that are consistently and constantly presenting a wealth of material, both original and local, and the best of what is current in the scene.  Still, one has to wonder how exactly the crazy “theater people” make the magic happen.  Seriously, a week away from production, and there’s still things on the to do list that deal with painting, lights, costumes, wigs, set, and finding people to run the show itself.  Will everything get done?  Absolutely!  That is the real miracle of theater.

The miracle of the 40th Street Stage itself is how the venue hosts such a variety of events sponsored by the myriad of companies that claim it as their home.  There’s Core Theater Company, Elizabeth River Theatre Company, Bold Girls, Children’s Theater of Hampton Roads, Source Theater, The Pushers, Bucket of Monkeys, and finally, City Arts Theatre Company.  Tonight the building belongs to City Arts, and as the actors arrive with energy drinks, bags of community snacks, and hugs for everyone, I chatted up Eileen Boarman, the Artistic Director of City Arts to find a good quote for the sidebar boxes PJ likes to pull out.  Eileen tells me that City Arts, which has been around since the beginning of May this year, has produced a wide array of events, from Spoken Word nights, to a local Film Festival, an upcoming Mask production, and of course, Reckless.  She says that City Arts wants to bring the cutting edge, oddball, quirky things to Hampton Roads. 

They are not your standard theater.

Eileen departs as the photographer who is donating his time for publicity stills arrives and begins his set up.  I overhear Eileen describe what makes good shots that are printworthy for the local papers.  As the actors come out in their costumes, they pull the props they need for the pics, and I hear more sound bits that only theater people find normal.

“You’re not gonna kill me in that, are you?”

“Don’t use up all my wedding rings!”

Now, I’m wondering what this show is about.  So I ask Nicolas Thornburg, the resident carpenter, about the set to see if I can get any clues.  He explains there’s a bedroom where the killer comes after Rachel, on Christmas Eve no less, before her husband gets her out safely.  I see a phone suspiciously in the middle of some audience seats and lots of boxes that look ready to make a variety of other locales for the audience to be able to see from any of the three sides that surround the performance area.  He wanders off to get ready for a picture himself and I see John Cauthen in a Santa suit resting his head on Scarlett Black’s lap as he sings a loud rendition of Cutting Crew’s classic 80’s hit, "I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight".  What is this show about?

We begin a little later than expected, and I see the hitman scene I was clued in about.  Scarlett Black plays Rachel, the gabby housewife whose husband hired a hitman.  She gets taken in by a seemingly nice guy and his paraplegic deaf wife. 

Did I mention this is a comedy?  It is, and one of the best of the true dark comedies.

This is the most disjointed, frenetic thing I’ve seen since…well what can I compare this to?  By the end of the evening, I’ve participated in a game show, witnessed embezzlement, murder, attempted murder, a puppet, lots of therapy sessions, a drunken Santa, and that’s just a sample.  This will be a show that everyone is talking about it, and for good reason.  The performances are top notch, many had to learn sign language on top of lines.  The show moves quickly, and you can’t afford to chat with your date, as the plot has lots of surprises.  So if you want to see something different, funny, disturbing, and well-produced, come see Reckless at the 40th Street.  If this is a sign of what City Arts has in mind for us, I’ll be coming back, just to see how they can top this. Stage this week.

Reckless runs Sept. 15 through Oct. 6. Thursday-Saturday at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm. Tickets: $10. Call 423-4084 for reservations.