Review by Forrest Maynock
In front of a sold out crowd Richard Stephens began to sing a naughty pirate shanty about bodily fluids. The crowd reacted accordingly and laughed uproariously throughout the song.
“The Sea is a Restless Whore” is a comical musical play that utilizes crowd participation and brash humor to entertain. The play involves five pirates with very different back- grounds that are all hiding a secret.
The play has been a success according to director and head of the Peninsula College Drama Department, Laura Starcevich. Starcevich said that there was, “Very good turnout. By the second night at the Metta Room it was sold out and we had to turn people away.”
Mark Valentine, who plays the character Patch, said, “It turned out really well. It’s a dynamic cast that works well together. There was riotous laughter in rehearsals, and we hope that most of that is delivered to the audience.”
I was excited to watch this play, and thankfully I was not disappointed. In fact only one element of this play was off for me personally, and it has nothing to do with the play itself.
My biggest issue was actually the set- ting itself. This is not so much a criticism of the play, or the establishment itself, but more a criticism of the situation. The Metta Room is great for music. I’ve seen several successful music events at the establishment, and I was pleased each time. However, several lines of dialogue were drowned out by the bar’s background noise, and music for the songs seemed a tad to loud.
So, on to the play itself.
The play started with some crowd participation to break the ice. Brianna Miles and Laci Trussell acted as the sideshow runners for the entirety of the play. The participation was fun, but also a little awkward.
Richard Stephens who is playing the pirate Scrawny Pete then sang the previously mentioned song about semen. It apparently gets everywhere.
Then the show really starts. The audience was introduced to Longshanks who is played by Jonas Brown. He storms in from off stage, announces himself, and then disappears for most of the play.
We are then introduced to Scrawny Pete, Patch, Buckfoot played by Marissa LeeAnn Rose Wilson, and Captain Long- brau played by Steven Canepa. There is also a lot of talk about someone named Raoul. More on that later. It is Longbrau’s birthday, so the rest of the crew have got- ten him presents. They each sing a song and slowly reveal their “true colors” to the audience, but seem to remain oblivious to each other for most of the play. From the get go it’s obvious what secret the Captain is hiding (he’s gay), and that fact adds to the comedy. As the play progresses we learn that Patch has dibetus, Scrawny
Pete wishes he was a rockstar, and that Buckfoot is English (and also a cross- dresser). Longshanks returns and after a brief skirmish involving bowl movements from Patch, Longshanks and the captain’s “friend” Raoul played by Fredrick Robinson join the crew in one last song and dance number. It reminded me of a San Francisco nightclub party.
Well, Patch still seemed pretty upset, but everyone else in the crew was having a blast.
Curtains.
Standout moments included Stephens dressed as a heavy metal musician similar to KISS, and Valentine arising from his cart to do a Broadway style tap dance. Both scenes had an extravagant presentation that really put the show over the top for me personally. Each scene had loud cheers and laughs as a response.
Overall this play was fun. The cast and crew had a lot to say about how great they thought it was.
Stephens stated, “Being the Peninsula Pirates, this show is a natural fit for Peninsula College and at a time when there is a great debate in academia on matters of free speech, political correctness, trigger warnings and micro-agressions, this very silly, bawdy show skewers sacred politically correct cows and is an ‘equal opportunity offender’ yet really is a show about tolerance and acceptance.”
Valentine said that he was inspired to take on the role because, “I had never had the chance to play a blind quadriplegic before. I’m not just a character in the play I’m a prop.”
Overall I was pleased, and I would go to it several more if I could. 8.5/10 in a loud bar because of background noise, but 9.5/10 in a theater setting because it was pretty funny.