Triple Espresso - Bill Arnold, Michael Pearce Donley, Rob Stromberg

Minneapolis, Music Box Theatre
San Diego, Horton Grand Theatre

Munich, Das Schloss
September 25 - 30

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    Participation is unusually problematic for Irish theatre audiences despite an ethnic reputation for extrovertedness. When it comes to drawing attention to themselves in the company of strangers, at least while sober, the Irish are traditionally reticent. Witnessed recently was the sad spectacle of two Caribbean street performers trying desperately to enliven the crowd in Temple Bar Square in anticipation of a limbo dance under a flaming pole. After a few solitary claps in time with the Reggae music blaring from a battered CD player, the anticipated accompaniment to the supple young man’s undulations beneath the flames gradually petered out. There was an enthusiastic round of applause when the act was over, mind you: the Irish are nothing if not generous when rewarding their entertainers after the fact. The division between entertainer and entertained is clearly defined though, and when the show goes on, it happens on stage, not in the stalls.
    The presentation of Triple Espresso as part of the proceedings of the Dublin Fringe Festival might have been disastrous given the Irish predilection for passive observation. The show relies quite heavily on the presence and involvement of a willing and participatory audience. The setting is a popular coffee house where resident entertainer Hugh Butternut (Michael Pearce Donley) is celebrating twenty five years on the boards. His eccentric brand of cabaret performance consists mainly of emotionally excessive piano renditions of 1970s pop songs, all accomplished with a massive smile which threatens to split his face. On this very special night we find in the audience his loving Mom and Dad, his beautiful wife, and various other subsidiary characters upon whom the spotlight turns more or less at random. The audience is an essential part of the performance here, and in more senses than one.
    From time to time throughout the show, members of the audience are drawn into the proceedings. Sometimes they are simply spoken to, sometimes an answer is required. On two or three occasions, people are invited on stage to participate in one routine or another. Butternut is partnered by two bona fide performers - his former stand-up comedy colleagues Bobby Bean (Bob Stromberg) and Buzz Maxwell (Bill Arnold). Bean specializes in physical spectacle such as mime and shadow puppets. He also does a sing-a-long version of "Where the Buffalo Roam" with the help of the audience, who are standing in for a class of 1971 college freshmen at the time. Maxwell is a poor but well-meaning magician whose ineptitude and terrified deadpan turn out to be his strongest assets, providing unintentional entertainment which becomes the major selling point for "Maxwell, Butternut and Bean" in the course of their generally disastrous careers.
    Though dramatically thin, Triple Espresso does unfold the story of the decline and fall of a minor-league comedy troupe, complete with backstage intrigues, repressed emotional anxieties, and inevitable catharses. The show is really more of an interactive cabaret experience which serves as a showcase for Donley, Stromberg, and Arnold though. It is a credit to each and all of them that it works so well. All three performers have exquisite timing, and carry off the mixture of over the top faux sincerity and semi-parodic vaudeville with great skill. Sometimes the audience needs cueing though. After being invited to find Arnold’s initial magic show funny because of Maxwell’s failure, people needed to be reminded to react with genuine applause when treated to a fully competent Chinese cup and ball routine. Likewise Stromberg carries off a difficult balancing act with the "Where the Buffalo Roam" bit, inviting the audience to laugh at and with him without losing control.
    There are some truly hilarious scenes. Stromberg’s bizarre turn as an ape prompted by the presence of Roddy McDowell as a judge at a talent show eventually involves the actor picking lice form the head of a spectator in the front row. Donley does a fantastic line in painfully cheerful facial expressions, matched later by a portrayal of melancholic descent reaching a nadir as he begins dressing like Mister Rogers. Arnold is brilliantly taciturn throughout, and is able to move from tight-lipped apprehension to clench-toothed rage by subtle degrees. The show has both internal and external energies, all of which are created, controlled, and delivered with practiced ease.
    In spite of the potential difficulties with embarrassed spectators, Triple Espresso is an extremely enjoyable experience. It engages and involves the audience in spite of themselves, and ultimately returns them to a childlike state of enthusiasm and joy. It has the power to make grown men cry with laughter and the skill and stagecraft to win sincere and sober admiration. After an American run of more than six years, the show receives its European premiere at the Fringe Festival.