Lauren Gunderson is a playwright of some erudition. This became clear when “Leap,” her meditation on Sir Isaac Newton, was produced at Emory University in 2004 while she was still an undergrad at the institution. Since then, she has earned a master’s in dramatic writing from New York University, is on the verge of having a second play produced at California’s prestigious South Coast Repertory and is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post.
Often preoccupied with themes of science and discoveries of the heart, Gunderson's work has propelled her from brightly promising liftoff to starry full flight. Now living in San Francisco, the Atlanta native is back home for the world premiere of Synchronicity’s “Exit, Pursued by a Bear,” a 90-minute workout of over-the-top physical comedy and social message-making that takes its title from Shakespeare’s famous stage directions from “The Winter’s Tale.”
With a comedic impulse that lacks viciousness and bite, the author apparently feels deep affection for the material she so cannily parodies: overwrought amateur thespians; the pondering earnestness of Jimmy Carter; the rugged terrain of North Georgia mountain country, where the wild game is plentiful and the bears are always hungry.
Director Rachel May and her really loud ensemble certainly summon the energy and camp required of this s0-called "revenge comedy." But Gunderson seems to work herself into a corner. Putting forth a feminist agenda, with the supposed goal of getting a bear onstage, she gets lost in a tangled forest of issues and caricatures, producing an uneven play-within-a-play that trots out familiar gay and redneck stereotypes and turns her heroines into victims.
With its dead animal carcasses and pop-culture references (Susan Boyle, karaoke, tell-all memoirs), the play slathers on ludicrous shenanigans and preachy sentiments. As the stakes shift and the structure lurches, the story struggles to find a cohesive ending -- and ultimately tacks on about four.
When the hardworking Nan (Veronika Duerr) decides to exact revenge on her drunken and abusive deer-hunter husband, Kyle (Nicholas Tecosky), she summons her new friend Sweetheart (Taylor M. Dooley), a wannabe actor who works as a stripper, and her BFF, Simon (Clifton Guterman).
Enter, boy in red cheerleader skirt.
While Kyle is duct-taped to a chair and surrounded by bear bait, this dramatic trio acts out scenes from the couple’s troubled relationship. As Kyle tries to wiggle his way back into Nan’s heart, Gunderson has some good fun chronicling the power struggles of this lunatic quartet -- in particular, the jealous tirades of drama queen Simon (played to a flamboyant and sometimes tiresome hilt by Guterman).
While some folks quote the Bible in moments of stress, Nan quotes Jimmy Carter, a device that seems funny at first but soon loses steam. This slight ensemble piece gets a bit lost in 7 Stages’ larger house and might have fared better in a smaller space. Though the show lands laughs and will probably find fans in the “Thelma & Louise”/“Nine to Five” set, its heavy-handed sermonizing becomes its own worst trap. Ultimately, Gunderson discovers that comedy is a bear.
Theater review
“Exit, Pursued by a Bear”
Grade: C+
8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. 7 p.m. Sundays. Through March 27. $18-$23. Synchronicity, 7 Stages Main Stage Theatre, 1105 Euclid Ave. N.E. 404-484-8636, synchrotheatre.com
Bottom line: Broad comedy loses its way with social message.
