Culture Mom Night Out: A Behanding in Spokane

I had the opportunity to see Christopher Walken perform in “A Behanding in Spokane “ last night at the Gerard Schoenfeld Theater on Broadway. And a treat it was. Hilarious, well-written and Walken is just soooooo good. He has a way about him that is kind of likable and creepy at the same time. Imagine a deranged, handless man about to blow up two innocent kids trying to scam him. Then he takes a call from his mother right in the middle of it all!

The play is written skillfully by Martin McDonagh, the Irish playwright who wrote “The Beauty Queen of Lenane.” He was interviewed in the New York Times a few days ago, speaking about his most recent work after taking a hiatus from theater for a few years to make movies. When he started working on this show, he said that he was paralyzed from the expectation that he was expected to live up to. “So I decided I’m going to write something trashy. It could be a runt of a story, which it is, in a good way.”

And it is a runt of a story! I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time. McDonagh pulls out the tricks. The play starts with Walken opening up a closet door and shooting a man inside and shutting the door again so we are left wondering what had just happened. We hear someone inside but Walken sits down on the bed and waits. He has been looking for his hand for 47 years and a young couple tries to get him to believe that they have it for a a bit of money. Following the confusion when they can’t turn it over is a series of plot twists involving airborne body parts flying out a suitcase, a possible explosion and a deranged hotel manager (played by the fabulous Sam Rockwell who becomes an integral part of the plot).

The run is sold-out. We’re members of the Atlantic Theater and got very good, low-priced seats.

Facebook and Flavorpill just hosted this awesome contest where they were looking for the best Walken impersonator. Check out the winner here.