In addition to Leah, the Mackinaw team includes two poets whose names, unfortunately, I did not catch (the program does not help on this point, but they are memorably played by Rauh and Jessica Garrett), and the co-captain and owner of one of the funniest names in the history of fake slam poetry, Shane Fluidge (Ragan again). Many of the funniest moments concern the attempts of a periodically unbalanced Vietnam veteran named Larry (Cooper again) to join the team. Larry’s most valuable assets are a van that holds five people and a knack for dirty (if not always syllabically-correct) haiku.
The five actors cycle smoothly from role to role, though not every characterization is equally precise, and many of the poets and poems not directly related to the Mackinaw plot begin to blend together. Director Aldo Pantoja does a nice job utilizing every corner of Joey Bromfield’s flexible set design—which incorporates everything from Larry’s cramped van to an ingeniously used live-video feed—and he generally keeps the pace up-tempo.
Still, several scenes toward the end could benefit from a pruning, especially one that introduces the inventor of the poetry slam, Marc Smith. (Garrett’s portrayal of Smith is the only performance in the show that could be described as bland.) For all that, I found the ending—which could go in several directions, depending on the votes of the judges at a particular performance—surprisingly abrupt. At the very least, I felt Pantoja and his actors owed us one final scene in which the Mackinaw team responds to their fate on any given night. It would require some improvisation and a healthy dose of risk, but if successful, it would provide the perfect capper to a show that continually defied my expectations—and, more often than not, made me very glad to be so defied. Sitting through a slam has never been so much fun.
Slampooned! is playing at Single Carrot Theatre, located at 120 W. North Avenue in Baltimore, on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 PM, and Sundays at 2:30 PM, through August 2nd. Tickets are $10-$15. For more information, visit www.singlecarrot.com or call 443-844-9253.
