My overall impression
Take something personal and make it universal. That’s a credo most writers strive for (ones that hope for connection, anyway.) Jaime Andrews’ COOKIE & THE MONSTER does just that, taking the specific hell of her adolescence during the late 80’s and early 90’s (a guesstimate going on the Jesus and Mary Chain tee one character wears and the strains of Depeche Mode’s Violator eking out) and making it infinitely relatable to anyone who ever wanted out. Out of town, out of the house, out of their own seemingly miserable lives and bodies.
Andrews is a genuine stage presence, taking us from kindergarten through high school, all the while accompanied by her inner voice, (portrayed by a genuinely rollicking Scott Leggett) dubbed Monster. No matter what the next bad choice she makes is, one can’t help but rooting for Cookie, and by extension Andrews, to come out on top, safe and sound. Always meaning well but always prey to her own worst self, Cookie goes through the normal cavalcade of childhood and teenage traumas, and doubles down into some genuinely horrific terrain, all the while aware of how much better she is than what she chooses to do. Her Monster is always right beside her, though, cajoling her to drop clarity and pick up the next bad habit.
The supporting cast is top notch, portraying an array of emotional ghosts, from teachers and parents to footballers to goth kids with their own AP Tests. (Sample question: ‘What is Morrissey’s first name?) Played by Sunah Bilsted, Curt Bonnem, Perry Daniel, Peter Fluet, KJ Middlebrooks, and Erin Parks. (Guy Picot is the ominous voice from above, heretofore known as Sky Guy.) Without giving anything away, Cookie’s moment of clarity is one we all hopefully find at some point in our lives, in the cold, harsh light of a smudged mirror the morning after. My hope is that this show lives on far beyond the Fringe, because not only is it a hysterical, heartbreaking, cathartic and rewarding evening of theater, but as one audience member said to me, “This show could do a lot of good for a lot of people.”
Co-sign.
