Review
Post Mortem
by A. R. Gurney
Lyric Hyperion Theater Café
2106 Hyperion Ave.,
Silverlake
through February 17
www.tix.com

What is most enjoyable about A. R. Gurney as a playwright is his ability to poke fun at everything including himself. In this his latest comedy, he juts ahead 10 years, allows his audience to relish the fact that he has passed on and perhaps been murdered by no other than Dick Cheney. Gurney’s expose Post Mortem was so controversial that the Bush regime censored it and did away with him before its attempted publication.

A student at a faith-based university in the Midwest (Alan Bruce Becker) and his advisor (Anna Nicholas) finally go underground, rewrite the play after it has been shredded by a futuristic fascist regime and surprisingly win a Pulitzer Prize for their work. What follows is an onstage interview that becomes the most engaging scene of this one-act. Another student (a hilarious performance by Andrea Syglowski) finds the two authors, now married, in a discontented slump, totally dissatisfied with their award-winning endeavors.

Gurney gives us nothing new, but offers a fresh look at the inspiring nature of theatre and forces us to think about meaningful art and culture and how we should cherish its possibilities. Scathingly funny political jibes and fictitious gossip and top-notch direction from Jered Barclay. Syglowski is a terrific actress who truly enjoys her every moment onstage.