May 30, 2003  |  By: PATRICK FOLLIARD  | COMMENTS     

ONCE JUST ANOTHER “Wigfield” housewife, Thea is now a witch along with her “life partner du jour,” Amythys. High priestess lesbian Thea holds “menstrual jamborees,” where she encourages young women to paint visions of womanhood with their own blood. She claims to live in a cave, but actually it’s a half-buried trailer.

Confirmed bachelor Julian Childs is artistic director for the Bunny Hutch, Wigfield’s community theater. What makes the Bunny Hutch interesting is that all of its productions — “The Velveteen Rabbit,” “Children of a Lesser God” and more — are performed by actual rabbits.

Thea and Julian are just two of the insane characters whose lives are described in “Wigfield, The Can-Do Town That Just May Not.” The performance will be brought to life in a “page to stage” performance at George Washington University’s Marvin Center June 6-7 and will star the book’s authors — Comedy Central actors Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, and Paul Dinello.

The hilarious trio began collaborating 15 years ago at Chicago’s Second City and is best known for its outrageous series “Strangers With Candy.” Sedaris is the sister of gay humorist David Sedaris with whom she also writes and produces plays. Colbert is a writer and correspondent on “The Daily Show.”

Basically, Wigfield is a toxic stretch of highway lined with porno shops, strip clubs (the Bacon Strip, the Twat Shop) and auto parts yards haphazardly built in the shadow of the Bulkwaller Dam. It seems that the state wants to pull down the dam and put Wigfield under water.

Wigfield’s townsfolk are in a race to incorporate and save their unsightly burg and way of life, such as it is.

ACCORDING TO COLBERT, the book is a series of character monologues that when read sequentially tell a narrative. The narrator is Russell Hokes, a former highway line painter, who stumbles upon Wigfield while trying to write a book on a small, dying town in America.

Shot by hip designer/photographer Todd Oldham, photos in the book present the authors in tragically funny make-up playing various Wigfieldians.

As Julian Childs, Dinello piles his hair high and lounges with costumed rabbits. Colbert does drag for the first time as Raven, a sweet stripper. Sedaris’ Mae Ella Padgett is a balding fright. and, at 47, possibly Wigfield’s oldest living woman.

In the book-promoting show, Sedaris, Dinello and Colbert perform the “nutmeat” of the satirical monologues. Full-color character photos from the book are projected on stage as the unlit actors begin each monologue.

As the lights slowly come up on the actors, the connection is made between actor and photo. Colbert explains that playing so many different characters, the actors didn’t want to give short shrift to the fabulous makeup and costumes achieved for the book in about two days on location behind an abandoned strip mall in Port Jervis, N.Y.

So, rather than donning a funny hat or big glasses for the different roles, they have opted for performing in neutral costumes in front of the sometimes jarring photos.

“Our take on small town life is to try and be funny,” Colbert says. “Our first objective is to make each other laugh. Then, a pattern begins.

“We write self-indicting characters who think very well of themselves. Yet, with every word they utter, they further indict themselves as incredibly selfish and self-serving,” he adds. “I’ve found that the smallest places in the U.S. harbor the most bizarre individuals.”

MORE INFO
‘Wigfield’
June 6-7
Marvin Center at
George Washington University
2300 I St., NW
202-432-SEAT