High Praise for Contact Theatre’s Production of Reefer Madness
It’s 4:20pm on Sunday night, and my friend and I are sitting in the Mainline Theatre waiting for the show to begin. The lights dim in the theatre, but not quite enough to indicate the beginning of the play. A woman carrying a binder and wearing a headset wanders onstage and starts fidgeting with a set piece. Seems normal enough, maybe the stage manager ran out of time to fully preset the show. The couch she is attempting to move simply won’t budge, and a man in costume comes out to help her. They start arguing. Loudly. And then it dawns on us…Both of the people onstage are mic’d.
The show had already started.
Thus began Contact Theatre’s production of Reefer Madness, directed by Debbie Friedmann and produced by Ally Brumer, a musical satire and cult classic. Reefer Madness tells the story of an amateur theatre troupe putting on a reenactment of the “Harper Affair,” a true (or so claims the narrator) story that demonstrates the danger of the devil’s lettuce –marijuana. In the show within the show, two wholesome kids (Jimmy and Mary Lane) will be tempted by the giggle smoke, and will ultimately fall into debauchery.
The human language lacks the right words to explain what a wild ride this musical was. Reefer Madness contains more twists and turns than a treble clef, and I struggle to express just how flawlessly this was executed. The production played into the “show within a show” joke just enough to keep it funny, but not to the point that it became a crutch or that it distracted from the central conflict surrounding Jimmy and Mary Lane.
Director Debbie Friedmann absolutely leaned into the satire and absurdity of the plot. The stage was constantly busy (truly in the spirit of “madness”) without descending into disorganized chaos. One could definitely watch the show a million times, and still miss some hilarious onstage jokes, but this makes the ones you do catch feel even more special. No matter where you’re looking onstage, you’re bound to see a priceless Easter egg (a little hidden detail that is up to the audience to find).
What would this production be without its incredible cast? Cathal Rynne and Casey Marie Ecker perfectly portrayed the fresh-faced innocence of Jimmy and Mary Lane respectively. Joel Bernstein’s Jack, the marijuana pusher, was despicably charismatic, and it was an absolute joy to watch Jonathon Vanderzon’s Lecturer try to satirically instill the fear of God (and reefer) in the audience. Every member of the ensemble had such stage presence, and they really made the show.
I would absolutely recommend anyone and everyone to go see Reefer Madness, but the show is unfortunately and understandably sold out until the end of its run. If you are itching for a fix, I highly recommend you go listen to the soundtrack (https://music.apple.com/us/album/reefer-madness-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-original/1308283036) It was definitely an ambitious musical for Contact to undertake, and yet it was executed flawlessly. Thank you so much to the entire cast and crew of Reefer Madness!
