Reefer Madness

Through Nov. 2, $20-$25, Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival Theater, 2111 Sansom St., 267-987-9865, 11thhourtheatrecompany.org.

by Mark Cofta

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Published: Oct 7, 2008

theater

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A "leafy green assassin" is coming to corrupt your children, we were warned in 1936 by the alleged documentary Reefer Madness. Today, the movie is a campy classic; marijuana is all but legal; and Kevin Murphy and Dan Studley's musical version, which I saw recently in Souderton, is a hilarious send-up of the manufactured hysteria that branded pot a dangerous narcotic.

The "joint production" of Souderton's Montgomery Theater and Philadelphia's 11th Hour Theatre Co., Reefer Madness: The Musical is gloriously silly, starting with Steve Pacek as a frothing teacher lecturing a high school audience on the evils of weed, aided by his equally stern assistant (Laura Catlaw), parading with placards sporting wisdom like "reefer makes you sell your babies." Their prime example: the (hilariously) tragic story of sweethearts Jimmy (Noah Mazaika) and Mary (Laura Giknis), who, after succumbing to rolling pin-size doobies, spiral into a sleazy underworld of "voodoo music" (jazz), crime, bad driving, debauchery and, of course, the munchies.

Megan Nicole O'Brien's production is suitably broad, from the sassy production numbers (choreography by Samuel Antonio Reyes) performed by a terrific young cast to John Hobbie's cartoony two-dimensional props and set pieces and Lauren Perigard's outrageously naughty costumes (pot forces sweet Mary into a black feathered bikini!).

This inventively goofy show culminates in a surprisingly contemporary message that goes beyond the marijuana question to the dangers posed by zealous naysayers in general. Reefer Madness, as one of the show's propaganda placards says about pot, is "a special kind of stupid."

Through Nov. 2, $20-$25, Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival Theater, 2111 Sansom St., 267-987-9865, 11thhourtheatrecompany.org.

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