By Taylor Jones
Moseying into the newly opened Stardust Playhouse in Monterey, the crowd gets acquainted with their friends and their little red seats as they prepare to enjoy an evening of comedy. Tonight’s presentation of “The Marijuana-Logues,” written by Arj Barker, Doug Benson, and Tony Camin, features a collection of monologues detailing both the stereotypes and the realities of smoking pot. The show’s director is CSUMB film student Kirsten Clapp, aided by her mother and co-owner of the theater Judie Swartz.
About forty or so chairs line the intimate theater. I sit facing the green, yellow, and red stripes on the backdrop, and in its center rests a bold, black hemp leaf. In contrast, an ocean of blue splashes over the walls that surround the audience. But all of this artistry would fade in shadows if not for the three miniature chandeliers that hang from the ceiling, their crystals dancing with gleam from the light. While listening to Bob River’s song “What If God Smoked Cannabis?” playing overhead, I’m getting a strong hint of what tonight’s subject matter will cover.
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| Photo by Nate Phillips |
“Marijuana…say it…” pleads actor Allen Aston, sporting a tie dye shirt with a picture of the Earth covered by a peace symbol. “Marijuana!” echoes the audience in response. After Aston and his fellow performers Patrick McEvoy, Drew Davis-Wheeler, and Tyler Shilstone get the crowd comfortable with the word, they explain how they simply want us to loosen up and give the plant a chance in the name of comedy. Matter of fact, why don’t you say it out loud right now? To yourself or a friend, to a spouse or a neighbor, or even to a small child (alright maybe not a small child), because marijuana is what this production is about anyways, so best get comfortable.
As the play progresses, I become increasingly familiar with vocabulary such as “jazz plants”, “El Diablo de Verde”, and “John Claude van Amsterdam” just to name a few. Shilstone provides a raving sense of humor in his outside-the-box thinking and blunt delivery. In one instance, he debated that smokers don’t use weed to hide from their problems, on account of “that’d be a lot of weed to be able to hide behind!”
During a brief intermission, “marijuana fun facts” play over the speakers while a classic “cigarette girl” in a deep red, vaudeville dress sells a wide assortment of munchies, ranging from Cheetos to Kit Kats and M&Ms. Without these fun facts, I may never have learned just how delicious chocolate pudding is…. that it is in fact “seriously, delicious.”
Davis-Wheeler poses an interesting and valid question to the hypocritical police of Las Vegas, Nevada. He questions why he could be in Las Vegas and be arrested for carrying small amounts of ganja, while people are free to gamble their life-savings away and practice insurmountable counts of intoxicated sex with prostitutes. In his defense, Davis-Wheeler stated “all I [hypothetically] wanted to do was smoke some weed in my hotel room, eat a Snickers, and go to bed – without bothering anybody.” And you know what? I agree that the law is partial. If Americans “enjoy” the right to purchase alcohol, knowing the risk of abuse could be harmful, they should be able to purchase marijuana and use it responsibly.
Sometimes I feel like the use of N.P.S. as “non-pot smoker” is somewhat condescending to those who don’t smoke the lean green, and places “pot-smokers” into a stereotypical image of someone who all too often sits on their behind and plays video games all day. Smoking pot is not so black and white as television and movies make it seem, it is more accurately a rainbow-tie-dye mixture of personalities and characters.
“The Marijuana-Logues” proved to be a very funny performance and would be entertaining to all adult audiences. It definitely sparked laughter in me as well as the rest of the crowd. Thanks to Stardust Playhouse on 2115 Fremont Avenue, Monterey County now has a new source for theater. This coming weekend will be your last chance to catch the show, so don’t miss out.
—Friday and Saturday, Jan. 27 & 28th at 8 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 29th at 2 p.m.
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