New Voices Shoot to Thrill in ‘Get. That. Snitch.’
by Dora Kaplan
Originally workshopped by Brand New Theatre at USC, “Get. That. Snitch.” moves to Atwater Village Theater, produced by Great Minds, Creative Productions. The play is the work of USC alumni, Achilles Capone, and is directed by Andrew Pilmer. And it is ambitious indeed. Subheaded as “The most dangerous play in the world,” “Get. That. Snitch.” riffs off Tarantino meets 50’s gangster entertainment. For pure entertainment, “Get. That. Snitch.” passes well but held up to what it could be, the play barely misses.
Capone provides snappy dialogue and high action. The design team does an incredible job of creating a world to mirror the genre from music to lights. The special effects create an almost cinematic feel. Phillip Power’s lights and Austin Quan’s sound couple to pass the audience from the devil to the action. There is no shortage of fight scenes, guns, or blood. Audience members visibly leapt as shots were fired and leaned in to watch the fights choreographed by Micah Watterson. The play whirls past with guns, lights, fights, and all the excitement the subheader promises. Without a doubt, “Get. That. Snitch.” entertains. From opening to closing, the action is relentless.
Beneath the action, Capone hints at bold thematics challenging gender and sexual stereotypes. Capone leaves the play in the hands of a female devil. Chaho plays a wonderful, mayhem-loving demon. Though the idea of a devilish female is not new, Chaho’s energy and obvious enjoyment carry the role well. At her mercy, Sean Gallagher shines as the tired and desperate Thrasher who (without giving away too much plot) has an interesting twist of his own. Refreshingly, Capone takes no time in demonstrating his novel approach to character. By introducing it as norm, the audience can accept the idea and consider it later.
Achilles Capone walks a very fine line. The play styles itself after slick, fast-moving dark humor movies. As such, the characters conform to archetypes like the ruthless gangster, smooth talking brain, mindless henchman, and trembling sidekicks. However, it constantly runs the risk of overplaying into these molds instead of the narrative — however wild it may be.
While the archetypes make sense, they are strangely executed, most obviously with the Chinese gangsters. The Chinese boss enters with henchmen who, simply put, are reduced to human monkeys. With no lines, they wear masks, cackle, and leap around in the background making other incomprehensible noises. The leader, sporting Freddy Kruger or Wolverine razors then proceeds to read another character’s fortune based on the lines of his face. Though the masks, costumes, posture, and sounds were perhaps meant to be indicative of that particular gang’s signature, it did not read as such. Certainly the trope of “the foreigner” existed in past gangster films, it feels racially insensitive, tired, and outdated in today’s age. Considering that Capone presents such interesting challenges to norms in gender and sexuality, it is disappointing to find this in his play.
Overall, this play an entertaining but mixed bag. The play makes a great effort to push boundaries and create momentum but the style can become cheap when overplays itself as in the archetypes. If the goal is simply to entertain, it does just that. With perhaps a few revisions to give more dimension to the characters, the play could live up to its ambitions. As it is, the energy of the cast, the excitement of the plot, and excellent technical elements make “Get. That. Snitch.” an indicator of even better work to come from Capone and more daring plays from Atwater Village Theater.
Get. That. Snitch. plays at the Atwater Village Theater through November 1st. Tickets are $12- $25. For more information, please visit http://www.greatmindscreativeproductions.com/#!snitch/c1f8n.
Reach Staff Reporter Dora Kaplan here.
