THE LAND OF EVERYWHERE
Avenue Productions, with Kinetic Theatre
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The Land of Everywhere borrows from The Wizard of Oz–a debt acknowledged when a character tells the hero, “This isn’t the Emerald City you’re in.” The play begins with two actors preparing to perform a play in a church basement in Chicago, only to be interrupted by a sour-faced Janitor who informs them that they are not on the building schedule, and who cares about theater, anyway? To teach him a lesson one of the actors hypnotizes him, sending him off to the Land of Everywhere. Here the naive Janitor finds a world in great need of cleaning up: the Anybodies and the Everybodies are at war, each side claiming to possess a secret weapon that will blow Everywhere into Nowhere. Their chronic enmity has been fueled by an evil spell brewed by the Nasties (actually only one creature, but addressed in the plural because of its four arms, four legs, and two heads), whose diabolical kitchen is guarded by the mysterious Boredome and her vulpine sidekick, Gloomus. Though his initial wish is to return to his suddenly comfortable-seeming workplace, the young Janitor accepts the mission of breaking the spell. This he accomplishes with some advice from the absentminded Nobody and the aid of his training as a janitor (lending a new dignity to that profession) and his prowess as a rapper and break dancer. Saving the world is not an activity confined to imagination, however, and upon returning to the church the Janitor and the actors discover the wisdom of cooperation and mutual respect.
Josh White III (grandson of the legendary folk artist) taps into his talents as a composer–with Robert C. Williams, he wrote The Land of Everywhere–and as a singer, dancer, and mime in his portrayal of the Janitor. He is enthusiastically assisted by the multivoiced Linda LeVeque and Vincent Raye, who play the entire population of Everywhere, including two full armies. One-woman orchestra Kim Swinton plays keyboard, chimes, electric bass, cymbals, maracas, finger bells, slide whistle, and other things that make noise when hit, shaken, or blown into.
