Nothing can be taken at face value in An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein. The collection of ten short plays quickly moves from comic to dramatic and then back again, with unexpected twists and turns in the plot lines. In Smile, Gibby is kidnapped by Bender and his thugs. Why? Because Gibby created the phrase ยHave a nice day,ย along with the smiley face symbol, and Bender is going to make him pay for it. In Blind Willie and the Talking Dog, blues musician Willie is panhandling to support himself and his dog ย his talking dog. While Willie asks passersby for spare change, his dog canยt understand why Willie doesnยt capitalize on the fact that he has a talking dog. And in Bus Stop, Irwin, whoยs holding an altered Metro sign that reads ยBust Stop,ย recites a long list of slang terms for breasts.
While Silverstein is well known for writing the childrenยs books The Giving Tree and The Light in the Attic, An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein isnยt for kids. The program might be funny, but itยs wicked, too. 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Obsidian Art Space, 3522 White Oak. For information, call 832-413-1607 or visit www.fanfactory.org. Pay-what-you-can.
Feb. 17-19, 8 p.m., 2011
This article appears in Feb 17-23, 2011.