The Land Whale Murders

Playwright Jonathan A. Goldberg's goofily intellectual new play, "The Land Whale Murders," has a way of steamrolling over your quibbles. Just when you don't think you can stand not knowing why a rich female scientist and a wealthy poetess are dressed like 19th-century prostitutes, the plot takes a byzantine turn that makes your objections seem beside the point.

The mere plot outline is ludicrous enough: In 1896, a member of a group of crime-fighting thinkers called the Four Elementals is murdered. An expert on oceanography, he's found stabbed by a swordfish. The other three members—avian aficionado Eugene (Carl Howell); one-handed, one-eyed botanist Angus (Amy Landon); and writer Maryanne (Jennifer Joan Thompson)—vow to capture the villain. After all, the Four Elementals successfully defeated that resurrected mummy a few years ago.

Helping out whenever our heroes seem about to fall victim to the dastardly Blowhole Gang and its evil leader, Pirate Penny, is Police Commissioner Teddy Roosevelt (Rich Hollman). (Goldberg makes no mention of the historic heat wave that Roosevelt was occupied with that same year, another bit of troubling dramaturgy that eventually dissolves in a fit of giggles.)

Tom Ridgley, who directs with a deft and sure hand, manages to shore up the script's shortcomings by keeping things moving. M.L. Dogg's sound design is also a great assist, though the use of Danny Elfman's theme from "Beetlejuice" is needlessly distracting. As the play turns increasingly illogical, the actors (who also include Nathaniel Kent and Robert Michael McClure in multiple roles and accents) up their performances. The result is a dizzying collection of daffy characters that are a far cry from period perfect but entertaining nonetheless. Chief among the company is Howell, as the perpetually misguided Eugene, asking all the wrong questions with a hysterically massive self-assurance.

I do have one qualm that was never satisfyingly put out of mind: The actors too often let their enjoyment of themselves overwhelm the show. Their mugging can get annoyingly smug, particularly as the script doesn't need any more absurdity. That aside, "The Land Whale Murders" is a refreshingly successful off-the-wall comedy that never overwhelms its flimsy premise.



Presented by Shelby Company at Theatre 3, 311 W. 43rd St., 3rd floor, NYC. Dec. 4–18. Wed.–Sat., 8 p.m. (800) 838-3006 or www.brownpapertickets.com.