Larry Littany Litt
SWALLOWS Swallows I know I’m supposed to think that playwright Jill Pangallo’s retro dramedy is about sad characters that she wraps in her own brand of irony and sarcasm. But I’m sorry I don’t think that at all. I had too much fun to think that the reality of aging rockers with secrets is going to change my mood. This is a play for those who want a bit of everything contemporary thrown into a high speed blender and out comes a super cool delicious smoothie that will blow your head off with wit and spice. Evan Frank’s set is the first gaze that drove me into paroxysms of glee. He’s recreated a time warp of kitsch and cheap glam so accurate that I recognized one of my living rooms in L.A. I couldn’t believe how the actors took hold of the place making it their home. It gave them background for what is a mad moment when Becca Blackwell’s Brodie announces they’re going to make a music video today. That it will change everything in their lives is the implied message to the three women who live there. The irony of Swallows, a 90’s rock band making a comeback video in 2025 isn’t lost on Heather Litteer’s Sloan. Sloan has her own history as a porn-horror star whose reputation is as the deadly vampire blowjob queen in the aptly titled “Neck Romance.” She questions the need to make a comeback when all they have to do is go on living in Brodie’s Valley pad. Then there’s Iris, beautifully played by Anni Rossi with silliness and self possession. She’s the quiet mystic who can never be stoned enough. She lives in a supernatural world of tarot and dreams that may come true if she just nice enough. Enter Lucky who is one of the funniest characters I’ve ever seen on off-off Broadway. Priyanka Kedia is a poised self aware teenaged rich girl who has major status issues with the whole house. She sees them as relics of a bygone generation who will not return to fame with or without a video. She speaks a newer generation’s truths to these ‘aunties’ without insulting them. They all know they’re decades out of fashion. The rest of the cast wraps itself around very common issues. Jill Pangolo’s Brie is a reticent den mother of aging glamour. Jason Bernardo’s Jake is a movie star shithead of an ego maniac who we’re all waiting to be brought down by the history they all shared. Because that is what this play is really all about. Humor and witty dialogue digging deep into the sad history of people who have lived unresolved lives. A reporter named Devon the blogger played by Sou Jee Han sneaks in to the house’s chaos set to ruin Jake’s life with a tape recorder shooting fear and loathing of press exposure. I mustn’t forget Director Rosie Glen-Lambert who moved her characters interactions around the small La Mama stage as if it were a ballet. It’s a sparkling dramedy night out that will remind you why there are good playwriting and actors on off-off Broadway.
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