The Adding Machine, Theatre Vertigo, Grade A

written by Elmer Rice
directed by Jane Bement Geesman

cast
Mr. Zero  .....  Gary Norman
Mrs Zero  .....   Jane Fellows
Daisy Diana Dorthea Devore   .....  Jenn Hunter
The Boss / Policeman   .....  Tom Mounsey
Shrdlu   .....   Joel Harmon
Mr. One / Lt Charles   .....   Mario Calcagno
Mrs. One   .....   Clara-Liis Hillier
Mr Two / Fixer   .....   Drew Danhorn
Mrs. Two / Judy O'Grady   .....   Brooke Fletcher
Mr. Three / Young Man / Joe   .....   R David Wyllie
Mrs. Two   .....   Natasha Terranova

sez says: Here is a timeless story.  Try mixing this up:  1) Technology. that keeps changing the world and at the same time undermines relationships in the workplace.  2)  People who too often don't live up to their dreams and fall into a hum-drum life, disappointing themselves and their families. 3)  Add to this some eastern religion and the idea of the transmigration of the soul  (which was all the rage in the 1920s when this was written)  4) Then juxtapose a moralistic, self defeating culture (doomed to degradation and an ever declining situation for it inhabitants) against the the dreams of an Elysian Field (where people are gay, making art and watching the flowers grow without need for purpose and who don't make judgments about each other.)

Give this material to a fabulous cast and you've cooked up one great night at the theater.  Vertigo may be the most interesting theater in Portland  -- I am shocked that they are not mobbed every night.

mjc says:  a nice piece of writing--imaginative staging.