"Cuckoo Edible Magic" is the most playful play in town. Now in a premiere production by SFBATCO at the Magic Theatre, local writer Reed Flores' show has a bubbling-over hot pot of a plot, incorporating an unlikely mix of stoner humor, surreal sci-fi, and family drama.
Thanks to director Michele Talgarow and a cast of nine that gamely embraces the script's wild swings between silliness and sentiment with the "Yes... and" attitude of improv comedy, it works.
Buddy comedy
A Bay Area picaresque, "Cuckoo Edible Magic" zips from the Mission District to Fremont with self-described "dumbasses" Ren (Dom Refuerzo) and Mai (Nicole Apostol Bruno).
Under the influences of the titular edible, the doofy duo has convinced themselves that they must save the world from an alien attack that's been heralded by evil anthropomorphic rice cookers and the mascots of Three Ladies Brand jasmine rice, who have come-to-life as a snap-crackle-and-popping Asian Charlie's Angels (Gwynnevere Cristobal, Julie Kuwabara, Amanda Le Nguyen).
One senses that edible consumption may have been a part of the playwriting process, not only helping Flores come up with wackadoodle riffs on video games, anime, and other staples of AAPI adolescence, but also easing his access to more tender aspects of his characters.
Ren's mother passed away when he was a child and he's grown increasingly disconnected from his father (Rudy Guerrero, who plays four supporting characters with sharp distinction). Mai, who is nonbinary, is terrified of rejection and is reflexively defensive around her restaurant-owner parents, who have difficulty articulating their fundamental support.
Tone shifts
As Flores develops his script further, he may want to figure out ways to move more smoothly between goofball comedy and earnest angst. Currently, these shifts happen abruptly; and because the play leans harder into humor overall, the more emotional dialogue has a tendency to feel maudlin.
Still, Flores beautifully expresses some pithy truths, repeatedly noting the difficulty in "knowing you need to be something for someone, but not knowing how."
Also countering some of the show's rough tonal transitions is a remarkable performance by Paula Vercudia as Mai's mother, Lin. Through delicately modulated vocal tones and facial expressions, she brings an emotional depth and roundness to her character that enrich and sometimes transcend the script.
Director Talgarow recently helmed Shotgun Players' excellent "Thirty Six," a sleek production that felt precisely controlled from moment to moment. Her ability to shift to the loose-limbed, unpolished rambunctiousness demanded by "Cuckoo Edible Magic" shows remarkable versatility and a keen sense of service to the needs of each play.
For audiences, this particular play may well meet some needs of the moment. Its looseness, levity and gonzo creativity are a tonic. It's sincerely funny.
'Cuckoo Edible Magic,' through March 8. $20-$60. Magic Theatre, 2 Marina Blvd. www.sfbatco.org
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