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REVIEW: WOOSH
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Lacking "Woosh!" fulfillment
"Woosh!" — a one-man, 12-character performance by Ryan Egan — is well performed and has some good laughs but the script isn't all there.
By KRISTINA FELICIANO
Offoffoff.com
So-so writing keeps "Woosh" from being wow.
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Canadian actor Ryan Egan inhabits 12 personas in 90
minutes, including a lonely gay man who hasn't left
his house in "three months, 17 days — today's the
17th"; a crack-addicted teen jonesing for a fix; a
motivational speaker; a wannabe B-boy at an audition;
a mild-mannered cab driver with a violent dark side;
and a Hollywood agent.
Watching Egan change from character to character is a
bit like witnessing an actor's composite shot come to
life — look how much range I have!
His feat might have been more impressive if he'd had a
meatier script to work with. There's nothing wrong
with the themes he covers: the human face of
addiction; the loneliness of the disenfranchised; the
susceptibility of the masses. But the way he covers
them borders on the cliché. The surprise ending of the
segment with the drug-loving teen is that he's really
a runaway, which we learn when he calls his dad and,
weeping, asks if he can come home.
There are a few good laughs along the way, though. His
portrayal of the spiritually fraudulent talent agent
is spot-on in its hollow mirth. This is a guy who
beckons a waiter with the line, "Can I have a mo'?"
Egan is so obnoxiously convincing here that he
inspires ripples of laughter and waves of nausea in
equal measure.
Egan is an earnest performer, and he is engaging
despite this show's flaws. Let's hope there's yet
another character out there for him, one with a solid
scriptwriter behind him.
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AUGUST 24, 2001
OFFOFFOFF.COM • THE GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVE NEW YORK
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