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
