Jody O’Neil as the Lecturer with cast of Reefer Madness in the background.
Photo: Michael & Suz Karchmer
Review by Steve Desroches
The current production of Reefer Madness: The Musical at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (WHAT) is an over-the-top satirical punch that delights from beginning to end, whether you’re high or not. And observationally, a significant portion of the audience on a soupy, humid Friday night came appropriately altered, hooting and hollering in the comfortably air-conditioned theater, adding a flair of The Rocky Horror Show as they gasped, cackled, and woo-wooed with such abandon it added to the high-camp melodrama in this pitch-perfect show (side note: consumption of cannabis of any kind is forbidden on the grounds of WHAT).
A wickedly funny crazed lampoon of the 1936 cult classic film, Reefer Madness: The Musical, for all its wild wackiness, is a top-notch theatrical featuring a cast that knows how to ride the rail of farce, yet not lose the narrative or step on the jokes as well as deliver vocal performances as an ensemble, and individually, that rival any that you would find in a larger locale. This cast sparks it up and keeps the cherry lit.
It is not necessary to have seen the original film, though it is helpful to know that when it was released the movie, a church-funded production, was intended as a serious cautionary tale about the perceived dangers of marijuana. Instead, the film became a joke in real time for its general absurdity. Come the 1970s the American counterculture rediscovered the film and it became a cult classic with midnight screenings. And Reefer Madness: The Musical dives head-first into this invitation to chew the scenery.
Everyone gives fabulously engaging performances, with stand-outs being Jody O’Neil as the Lecturer, the Greek chorus of the play, Brittany Rolfs as Mae, the reefer den matron with a heart of gold, Maranda Rossi as Mary Lane, the sweet and innocent all-American girl corrupted by the Devil’s cabbage, and Gabriel Graetz in multiple roles, including a hysterical, yet wonderfully disturbing turn as a baby neglected by his dope fiend mother. As a company, the entire cast brings their A-game.
Reefer Madness: The Musical might not be for the easily offended or those who can’t open their minds to theater of the ridiculous. It taps into the yellow journalism culture of the 1930s and as such there’s cannibalism, splashy murders, and cannabis-driven orgies, all with dance numbers with special appearances by Uncle Sam, the Statue of Liberty, and a smart-ass Jesus. But it’s also a searing satire that points out the hypocrisy and manipulative ways conservative elements exploit and control using fear. And to illustrate how much has changed since the original film came out, and how it failed in its efforts, when the play is over you can walk across the parking lot to legally buy marijuana at a licensed dispensary and pay a twenty percent tax.
Reefer Madness: The Musical is at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (WHAT), 2357 State Highway Route 6, Wellfleet, Tuesday through Saturday now through July 27 at 7 p.m. Tickets ($15-$50) are available at the box office and online at what.org. For more information call 508.349.9428.
