![]() ![]() He’s tackled a wide array of subjects, from medieval religious farce (“Incorruptible”) to the backstage, backstabbing politics of a string quartet (“Opus”), and his magpie-like fascinations result in periods of intense research. Hollinger, a Philadelphia playwright whose work isn’t often seen out here, is noted for his stylistic range. All four interests come together, inexplicably yet convincingly, in “Red Herring,” which opened Saturday at the Laguna Playhouse in a smartly conceived and well-cast Southern California debut. Let’s get married.Playwright Michael Hollinger is a student of Shakespeare, Golden Age Broadway shows, film noir and the politics of the McCarthy era. And while it’s customary for comedies to end in multiple marriages, few of them are ever proposed with as much clear-eyed, weary-hearted eloquence as this: “Come on, Frank. It isn’t quite as breakneck as The 39 Steps, and a 10-minute tightening would make it even stronger, but Red Herring has already got plenty of moxie. Like the adaptation/parody of The 39 Steps that ran ran on Broadway throughout 20, it’s a diverting goof that builds up energy by keeping its tiny company jumping to make its next costume and accent. Let it suffice for me to say that as rendered by a chameleonic six-person cast, Hollinger’s adept merger of hard-boiled mystery and screwball romantic comedy seldom pauses for breath, or to let you catch yours. Yeah, look: Joe McCarthy never substantiated his claim of knowledge of an ever-shifting number of alleged filthy Ivan pinko turncoats in the State Department, so I’m gonna drop this whole list thing now.There are laws against stumping within a certain number of feet of a polling place, but it’s OK to do it over a dead body, apparently. ![]()
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