SEE or SKIP: FLUFF – A Story of Lost Toys

VENUE: New Victory Theater (ended May 4)
VENUE TYPE: off-Broadway

SEE because:
Cute and slightly macabre story idea: children’s toys get lost or vacuumed or mangled and then are found by two women who collect them and give them little beds to sleep in.

Early in the show, there are clever moments when a sound effect is used to confound expectations or change the action (e.g., a woman wheels a baby carriage across the stage. First she hears the tires squeal; then the carriage forces her to come to an abrupt halt.)

Kiddies in the audience enjoy two interactive moments when they are recorded making animal noises, and then the animal sounds are played back through the p.a. to create barnyard ambience.

Very cool, colorful and impressive set that promises a whole lot more than the show delivers.

SKIP because:
Oh my god, is this dull. Nearly 70 minutes and So. Fucking. Dull.

All the clever uses of technology here add nothing to the narrative but gimmickry.

Christine Johnston has a rich, breathy voice and can waggle her tongue like a deranged turkey. Fine. But if I’d heard her do that ONE MORE TIME in the show, I would have hired a hunter to poach her for next Thanksgiving.

This is one of those shows that has 12 empty beds onstage to fit 12 lost toys. And don’t you know, every single one of those toys will be rescued, one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one…

You’d think any show that has a woman putting a toy octopus on her head would be hoot. You would be sadly mistaken.

FINAL CALL: SKIP because:

If you want to see a tale of lost or forgotten toys, see “Toy Story 2”. If you want to see another tale of lost or forgotten toys, see “Toy Story 2” again, and stay the hell away from this.