The Spy Who Went Into Rehab (review)

 Spoilers ahoy!

Parody is a tricky thing.  When the form of a parody is to essentially use the target as an excuse for jokes, essentially we are making fun of not only a genre but its fans.  Not so when the jokes are coming from a place of at least affection, if not love.  These parodies, in my view, stand the test of time a la Young Frankenstein or Galaxy Quest.

The Spy Who Went Into Rehab falls into the the latter category.  Gregg Ostrin wrote this clearly with a lot of knowledge about James Bond, Matt Helm, etc.  This shows up in the fact everything is so very fun! The play literally begins with Cross, Simon Cross (Satiar Pourvasei) tied up wearing a white dinner jacket, eyebrow arched and challenging his unseen captors to do their worst.  When they start asking about his medical insurance, the horror hits home.  He is in rehab.

Why?  Well, he claims to have been engaging in a high speed chase with some professional assassins.  In fact, he was drunk out of his brain while attacking an Uber.  A phone call to his boss Z (director Cyndy Fujikawa) confirms he really is stuck in a rehab facility for the next thirty days.  No guns.  No six to nine vodka martinis every day.  No sex.  No smoking.  Oh, and group therapy.

At this point we could spend the entire time making fun of Simon and everyone around him, and in fact the play does exactly that.  But what makes it better than that is when he begins to change.  He starts to recognize he is an addict, and it probably--as he explains to fellow patients--something to do with his father beating him all through childhood.  Simon proves a fascinating person, with lots of great stories to tell--a fact the therapist Stella (Jill Renner) finds frustrating.  Yet the spy does listen to others.  He offers an ear to listen and arm to walk with to Pixie (Alondra Andrade), a pep talk to the insecure Gary (Stuart W. Howard), actually bonds a bit with Yvonne (Rachel Townsend).  And he starts to grow, realizing some facts about his life.

Which is also funny, especially when his arch-enemy shows up and cannot fathom what Simon is even talking about now!  In the end, a lovely series of plot twists spirals up the laughter and makes increasingly clear Simon really did need this therapy.  He's become a better man.  Not coincidentally, he's also now a better secret agent, capable of helping his fellows.

Honestly, the timing of the show (on opening night, let us be fair) was slightly off but that is a nuance, one I suspect will simply correct itself as performances in front of a live audience continue.  

The Spy Who Went Into Rehab plays 8pm Fridays and Saturdays, 3pm Sundays until July 7, 2024 at the Pacific Resident Theatre, 703 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291

Casting Choices

Just for fun, I was going to offer what could be some fun speculation -- namely some roles I would like to see played by specific actors.

• David Tennant as Renfield in Dracula. Other than the King Vampire himself, this really is the juiciest part and when given the chance actors have managed to do wonders with it. Tennant is one who'd be marvelous at it.
• Michelle Trachtenberg in a modern-day retelling of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. Much as "Clueless" was really "Emma," methinks it would be a hoot to see some modern teenager go through the same process as described in the classic -- growing up and opening the heart of someone else while making entirely the wrong conclusion based on current "gothic" ideas (a serial killer or maybe a vampire a la "Twilight").
• Rachel Hurd Wood as the narrator in Rebecca. She's grown up into a very lovely young woman (making it easy to understand why Max de Winter would fall for her) but has been more-or-less typecast as an ingenue, often a murder victim. But for those of who who haven't read the book, there turns out to be steel in this lady, despite her waif-like status. Methinks that might make a nice transition for her.
• Viggo Mortensen as Khan Noonien Singh in a new Star Trek sequel, one based on the current timeline created by J.J.Abrams. Mind you, I'm thinking it would be fascinating to see the story of "Space Seed" take an entirely new direction (who wants to see a total retread?).
• Nicole Kidman as the villain in a James Bond Movie. The reboot of the 007 franchise gives a wonderful opportunity for the films to explore ideas the originals rarely did. In this case, a genuine Lead Bad Guy who is actually a Bad Girl -- the equivalent of Blofeld or Dr. No. Given the way Quantum seems to be working out, perhaps her name should be Miss Black? Or Mrs. Gray?