HOYLE'S PANORAMA OF AMERICANS 
                                              By Carol Benet
        artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area theater
                                                                 Weeks starting April 9-16, 2010
                                                                 Vol. 12, No. 87
          Dan Hoyle's play "The Real Americans"  offers vignettes of Middle America, occasionally political ones, in his "theater journalism" mode. The vignettes ring true to life, with Hoyle making letter-perfect imitations of regional accents.
            The Marsh, a small theater in the Mission on the gentrified part of Valencia Street, has been a breeding ground for new performance since 1989.  It presents from 500 to 600 shows a year in small stages on Valencia Street in San Francisco and in Berkeley, and it packs in the crowds.  Currently Dan Hoyle’s "The Real Americans" is playing to sold-out audiences and has been extended several times since its opening on January 21. 
             Hoyle’s first show, "Tings Dey Happen" was a similar success.  Written after he spent a year in Nigeria on a Fulbright where he interviewed local people, this show demonstrated Hoyle’s ability to observe, to recreate and to mimic the exact accents (and the attitudes) of the people he encountered. The one-man show toured in the U.S. where it garnered many awards both here and Off-Broadway in New York. And the U.S. State department sponsored a tour to five Nigerian cities with the show. 
            For his new work Hoyle traveled in small-town America – Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky, etc. In between towns, he returned to the “bubble” of liberalism (The Bay Area) and talked to his friends, whom he also parodies. 
            On his trip he meets the people that Sarah Palin and the Tea Party folks say they represent.  They are angry if not furious at the government.  They regret their position in this country and feel ignored and oppressed.
            The first man we meet, after some rousing football game music, is Ron from Wisconsin. Ron is watching his son play football in the distance.  He yells at his son to perform and tells us that he was in Iraq. How Hoyle gets this Wisconsin accent is a wonder.
            Then we switch to his friends in San Francisco who are ordering dinner from a swishy waiter who explains all the selections for the meal in a typical foody way that happens in restaurants here.  One of the friends is a clueless Valley-girl type who questions everything, or at least every sentence she says ends like a question.
            Then we meet the Texas preacher, a nurse at a senior home, and then the old man.  The old man, a former coalminer from Kentucky, is a highlight in the show because we have no idea what he is saying. This goes on for an uncomfortable few minutes until a screen alights with a translation of what is being said.  But at some points, even Dan Hoyle had no idea what the man was talking about, so there are question marks on the super titles.
            Hoyle sings songs that of the people, and made some more up, one that clearly expresses his own views about “Science, Reason and Logic.”  He adds a little hip-hop too. And so that we don’t think he is only talking about the Tea Party types, he does a good impersonation of President Obama as well.
            Dan Hoyle grew up in the theater as his father is the well-known actor Geoff Hoyle.  He went to Northwestern University where he studied Theater Arts and is one of the stars of the young performers in the Bay Area.  The show, as was "Tings Dey Happen," was developed and directed by Charlie Varon, another bright star and contributor to The Marsh since 1991.   The music was composed and produced by Mark Weiner with David Hines designing sound and lighting. 
            The Marsh has workshopped such troupes as Word for Word and Josh Kornbluth.  Currently it plays Ann Randolph’s "Loveland," a similarly sold-out solo show that has been extended through April 25 in S.F. and then moves to The Marsh Berkeley on May 8 through June 13. Don Reed’s solo show, "East 14th,"  about growing up in Oakland with a pimp for a real father and a Jehovah’s Witness step-father, is currently at The Marsh Berkeley, after being extended times.  And coming soon will be Geoff Hoyle’s "Geezer "on May 1.
            “The Real Americans,” at the Marsh. For tickets call (800) 838 3006 or go online.
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        © Carol Benet 2010
        Carol Benet is a regular theater reviewer for artssf.com.
    These critiques appearing weekly (or sometimes semi-weekly, but never weakly)focus on theater, dance and new musical creativity in performance, with forays into recordings by local artists, and a few departures into books (by authors of the region)as well.
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