The Wake

With no flashy marquee to announce itself, the Bedlam Theatre took me a while to find, but you know you’re in for an entertaining night when your first task is to find the venue. Located behind Palmer’s Bar, in the shadow of the Cedar-Riverside housing complex, the small theater is easy to miss. The West Bank is home to a staggering number of performance centers, but none of them have the edge you’ll find at the Bedlam.

John Francis Bueche, co-artistic director at the theater, says the Bedlam occupies a “unique niche” in the West Bank in its ability to bridge the local community and the reputation of professional theater.

On April 1, the Bedlam Theatre hosted a variety show like no other: the April Fool’s Romp. A mixture of sketch comedy, video art, puppetry, live music and rodent costumes, the romp was unpredictable at every turn—just like the audience.

An informal B.Y.O.B. policy that evening ensured an inebriated crowd of bikers, punks and hippies at the Bedlam. Cans of beer and 40-ounce bottles were as conspicuous as they were abundant. And as the night went on, the laughs got louder to the delight of the performers and viewers alike.

Bueche describes the romps as, “A celebration of the radical-activist heart of our theater enterprise.” The first of the variety shows was in 1998 and, as Bueche noted, “Romps’ll sell out by word of mouth.” The house was full early in the evening, and when all the seats were occupied, latecomers sat on the floor with no complaints.

The night began with a live “broadcast” of the fake news show WYASKY, in which anchors read headlines and ran video clips on the day’s top stories. Anchors targeted the War in Iraq and immigration policy in the satire, and proved that the Bedlam has no qualms about being outspoken. WYASKY is a recurring skit, and served as entertaining filler between the night’s other performances.

Following the first news segment was the evening’s most unexpected act: a trio of people in rodent costumes. Armed with homemade drums, the furry creatures emerged from backstage and performed their not-so-coordinated drumming sequence to the delight of the crowd. Using only gestures and the occasional squeal, the papier-maché adorned performers earned some of the biggest laughs of the night with their innovative slapstick-style routine.

Regular Bedlam Theatre players took the stage throughout the night in the WYASKY news segments, an ongoing game of Celebrity Jeopardy (á la Saturday Night Live) and a 15-minute reenactment of the movie Rocky. While the other acts of the evening were astonishing, it was these skits, with their inside jokes about the Bedlam, that resonated most with the crowd of regulars.

“Our loyal following sustains the whole thing,” notes Bueche. “There’s been long stretches in the past that we’ve survived without a whole media presence.” And it was obvious that April Fool’s Day at the Bedlam was like a holiday with extended family. So much so that the second to last event of the evening was a marriage ceremony.

When Ivan and Kelly recounted their romance and exchanged vows, I witnessed the most bizarre crowd reaction I’d ever seen. Granted, it’s hard to take seriously a marriage at a theater on a night of practical jokes (it was April Fool’s Day, after all), but no one seemed to be laughing as the ceremony was nearly cut short by a barrage of beer cans from angry audience members. Perhaps they protested the institution of marriage, but the violent reaction to the ritual on stage was disconcerting to say the least. But true to the world of theater, the show went on.

About the only way to recover from the near chaos of a wedding is an awesome set by a group of highly skilled musicians. Enter: the Blackthorns. Armed with classical string instruments, a hard rock rhythm section, banjos and accordions, the Blackthorns have one of the darkest, most original sounds of any local band. And though they were plagued that evening by technical difficulties, they still managed to get through an entire set, even agreeing to play a one-song encore. They were the perfect sendoff after an evening of chaotic entertainment

Those who caught the April Fool’s Romp were witness to one of the great expositions of local talent in a variety of mediums. And while the Bedlam Theatre maintains a year-round schedule of events, there’s something about the romps that accurately evokes the theater’s namesake in a way that nothing else could.

Bedlam Theatre’s next production is West Bank Story which begins a run at the Mixed Blood Theater on June 2. Check for upcoming events and future romps.