KAY

Now, Lana Dee, you had a sugar sandwich for dinner. I wantcha eatin' healthy. I'll open you
up a can of spaghetti.

GINNY

It looks like two pairs of underwears stitched together.

KAY

It makes a big pocket. The guys wear ‘em under their trousers. Every once in a while, when the lights go out in the casinos, they shove as many chips as they can in there.

LANA DEE
The A-bomb!
The A-bomb!


GINNY
Look what we can do.

 CATSKILL CHRONICLE        
(June 29, 2011)
Review by Sharlene Hartman

 “Jackass Flats” Now Playing at Shadowland

ELLENVILLE, NY– I was so clueless, the evening I went to see the world premiere of Shadowland’s newest play, “Jackass Flats,” that I thought the subject was going to be about a bunch of thrill seekers doing dumb stunts or something about drag racing. Well, I couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

“Jackass Flats”, written by C.C. Loveheart and her husband, John Simon, had its inception at The Actors Studio.  As for my thinking any testosterone was involved, I was oh so wrong. If anything, “Jackass Flats” is estrogen driven, a theatrical version of a “chick flick,” a “babe stage,” so to speak. But fear not, men will find plenty to enjoy and laugh at.

The play is set in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Valentine’s Day 1952, and is based on the personal reminiscences of C.C. Loveheart as a child. At rise the mood is set with fabulous songs from the era while the radio broadcasts the latest discovery of Senator Joseph McCarthy, that there are “337 communists presently employed by the state department.”

 
A young girl, Lana Dee (charmingly played by Amelia Rose Allen), enters with a big personality and proceeds to make a sugar and Wonder Bread sandwich at 1:00 a.m. in the morning. Her mom, Kay (played by Rita Rehn) wants Lana Dee to eat healthier (a can of spaghetti) and get some more sleep before leaving on a 4:00 a.m. mystery road trip.

Kay gets a phone call that breaks the whole  1950s perfectness. And at this point you get the hint that something involving heartbreak is on the horizon.

Then there’s a knock on the door and Kay’s tipsy disheveled sister-in-law Ginny (wonderfully played by Estelle Bajou) enters.
At this point I thought I was in for a 1950s, Las Vegas-style version of “A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking.” I was wrong again.  Kay is a wise cracking, Rosalind Russell type character; with a steady stream of one liners. And Ginny is this naive lost soul. Kay doesn’t get why her brother married her: “You don’t drink, you don’t smoke, you don’t swear; I’m not sure you’re the right girl for my brother. ”
It becomes apparent when her husband calls to say he can’t join the family for this road trip that all of Kay’s sharp-tongued one-liners and forced sarcasm are a cover for some pretty chronic unhappiness.

Kay  shares her vision of the world with some very funny dialog, particularly in a conversation where she gives Ginny suggestions on how to perfect a specific type of sexual activity.  I enjoyed watching the men in the audience react; it was definitely a couple’s laugh fest, until a very serious turn when a secret is disclosed that I never saw coming.
I loved the second act even more. Kay and Ginny become even more interesting. When Ginny shares knowledge, you’d never expect her to have, but knows chapter and verse, you see the metamorphosis. She saves the road trip, which we find out is to the test site of the atom bomb. With the character’s new-found confidence, I found Estelle Bajou’s body language, facial expressions and naked sincerity a delightful mix for Ginny.

The play brings focus to a lot of serious issues. The emotion of seeing the bomb go off, watching something so powerful, is played beautifully by Miss Bajou. We watch the three characters respond to this monumental moment and, when Ginny says “Look what we can do”, it gave me chills.

I think that Jackass Flats has the potential to be a very important play. It so captures a very specific time in history. The audience loved it. The woman behind me remarked, “Now that was a fun one.”

ANOTHER:

Given the quality of acting and the special effects featured in this world premiere production, the Brendan Burke-directed play has the potential of becoming a staple. 

Times Herald-Record

June 28, 2011

“Jackass Flats” is an innovative ensemble piece for women. It’s got three great women’s roles. It’s difficult to find shows with roles that women can really enjoy and explore.

… a great play that should eventually be published and have a life beyond Shadowland.

Chronogram June 29,2011