Looped is based on a true story, and fictionalized by by Matthew Lombardo.

Die!Die! My Darling!

Looped recalls a recording session in which the actress Tallulah Bankhead was tasked with dubbing one line that was unintelligible in the schlock horror movie, Die! Die! My Darling! in which she played a deranged mother who terrorizes her dead son’s fiancé. The play takes place in a grubby recording studio in Hollywood in 1965 where she went toe to toe with the film’s editor over an eight-hour period regarding that one line. Based on a true story, and fictionalized by by Matthew Lombardo, the play starred Valerie Harper on Broadway.

Tallulah was born into Southern royalty in 1902. Daughter and granddaughter of Alabama politicians, she grew up without her mother, who died of sepsis 3 weeks after she was born. By the time of her death from pneumonia in 1968, the silver spoon she was born with was tarnished beyond recognition. She was famously difficult to work with, throwing tantrums, showing up drunk and late to shoots, or not showing up at all. She was an alcoholic and drug addict, had a “scandalous” sex life, was known for her bawdy and vulgar language, and by the time of her death from pneumonia in 1968, in the eyes of many she had become a caricature of the persona she created. However, she was a fine actress and worked throughout her life despite the roadblocks she placed in her way. She was also very liberal, championing civil rights causes in opposition to her family tradition.

Hello, Tallulah.

So, who was Tallulah underneath all the hoopla she created? Looped seeks to unravel that mystery through the dialogue with the film editor in which they tear each other’s masks from their faces and reveal the person beneath the persona.

In this three-character play, Julie Kittsley plays Tallulah as though born into the role. She appears to have channeled Tallulah and for two acts and about 100 minutes, becomes her. The laugh, the way she holds her cigarettes and drinks her bourbon, the sardonic commentary and throwaway lines, the desire to shock and obvious pleasure when she does, her delight when her barbs hit the mark, her speech patterns and movements are all Tallulah, right down to the way she tosses her head and her full-length mink coat. In Act Two, she exposes a softer aspect of herself that may or may not be the troubled woman beneath the mask. Ms. Kittsley plays it all with great panache and is a pleasure to watch.

Elliot Fox is Steve, the uptight film editor who initially is out of his element dealing with the force of nature that is Tallulah, but by the second act has found his footing and faces her head on. Mr. Fox is excellent as he evolves from a nervous and cautious man unaccustomed to dealing with “the talent”, to one who gives as good as he gets in the sparring scenes with Tallulah. He also exposes the person behind the mask in a heartfelt and heartbreaking manner.

James Cichocki plays Danny Miller, the sound engineer who sits above the fray in the sound booth, watching the action taking place below him between the actress and the editor. He doesn’t just sit there, though. His facial expressions and body language as the other two go at it add to the comedic aspects of the play and flesh out his character so we have the sense that we know him, sugar addict that he is. Very well played in a mostly silent role.

Shock and Schlock

The first act of the play is full of one-liners meant to shock and amuse and does not seem to have any other purpose than to show Tallulah at her most outrageous, and Steve at his most nervy and exasperated. That being the case, perhaps a bit less of that would have been sufficient. The second act exposes their secrets and the lies they have told themselves and each other and brings the play to a new level. Here, the vulnerability that all people grapple with comes front and center, and through their sparring and dialogue with each other, Tallulah and Steve allow themselves, at least for that moment, to be who they really are.

Director Richard Lambert keeps everything moving at a good clip so there are no dead moments in this character and dialogue driven play. The set by Chris Wilson has the feel of a much used and not very clean studio. Lighting is by Chris Cavanagh; Sound by Roy Walker; Production photos by Michael Walline; and Tallulah’s wig is by Mary McMahon Jakiel.

At Steve’s request, Tallulah plays a short scene as Blanche DuBois toward the end of Act Two, and one might ask if in playing that very fragile woman, she isn’t in fact playing herself. Who knows, darling?