The Milwaukee Premiere of Microcrisis is a embarrassingly fun. It's a comedy about the last global financial collapse as reflected in the next one . . . a fictional one that shows how an entire global economy can tank thanks to the actions of one ambitious jerk and all of the people who are manipulated by him. Next Act Theatre stages the Milwaukee premiere of this comedy as the opening of its season.
The central story being presented here is easy to follow even if you're not particularly familiar with finance. But if you want to work your way into it, maybe get Inside Job or Margin Call on Netflix and you'll have a little bit better of an idea what's going on here (. . . there was also a pretty good presentation of the information in an episode of public radio's This American Life.) The clever thing about the script is that it doesn't paint the banks out to be big evil soulless institutions out to destroy the world . . . we really see the dynamic play out between everyone and it's fascinating.
There are quite a few interesting isolated moments that are a lot of fun that play out in passing moments of a very, very quick intermissionless comedy. David Cecsarini is fun as the big manipulator at the center of it all. When clever a tech guy played by Michael Cotey begins to suspect that there's something insidious about the business he is conducting, Cecsarini's manipulator swiftly slides suspicions aside. Your heart sinks and the comedy continues. Mary Kababik plays an emotionally unstable agent at a major credit rating giant in lower Manhattan. There's a moment where w see her almost assert herself in giving a poor rating to a toxic scheme. There's a brief sense of triumph there that is completely crushed when Cecsrini's character finds a way around it. Again your heart sinks and the comedy moves on.
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Jonathan Kishline rounds out the central end of the dynamic as a former financial giant who has now retired to the Federal Reserve Bank where he seems too tired to effectively police everything. When he finally asserts himself in a final way. . . well, you get the picture. That this is anything other than depressing is tribute to how well Mike Lew wrote the script and how well the thing was put together by a brilliant cast including a sparklingly deft performance by ALexandra Bonesho and a truly charming bit of comedy with Lee Palmer as an African cell phone provider looking for a loan.
Next Act's production of Microcrisis runs through October 21st on 255 South Water Street. For ticket reservations, call 414-278-0765. A comprehensive review runs in the net Shepherd-Express.
