The cast: Chida Chaemchaeng, Kerry Gudjohnsen, Ryan Max Wilkes, Noah Kelly, Liz Roddy. Photo by Amanda Ortmayer

The Necessity of Hank
Look up.

 

Radiostar Interview with Noah Kelly

Moonshine Inc. Article with Val Kelly

Cool As Hell Theatre Podcast with Michael Rice and Noah Kelly

 

SF Weekly December 5, 2007 (Molly Rhodes)

If you have yet to experience RIPE Theatre, you are missing one of the most theatrically adventurous companies in the area. The substance of this particular play, about the strained relationship between a mother and a son, unfortunately often gets lost in all of its flights of theatrical fancy. A bit with a cat, for instance, starts out with much promise, yet by the end fails to resonate among all the other detritus onstage, including leaves from a strong storm and chalk outlines of thoughts and feelings. What's more, only Noah Kelly, as the fun-loving dentist dad, has the quicksilver quality needed to keep the deceptively mundane lines fresh and intriguing. (It probably doesn't hurt that he and his own mother, Val, penned the story.) Yet there is something exciting about the Kellys' constant choice to eschew plodding, straightforward storytelling for an imaginative oddball journey, one just as likely to ponder profound themes of loss and self-discovery as it is to send up those themes with quirky humor. Even if this particular piece is more style than substance, that style is so inventive and charming that you hope this seven-year-old company has many more tricks up its sleeve.

 

SF Bay Guardian December 5, 2007 (Robert Avila)

RIPE Theatre's cleverly staged new play features full-size chalkboards on three walls and a broken yellow highway line running straight out of the proverbial fourth. Seemingly, it takes place no place, thus attempting to capture something very specific but elusive. Sitting center stage in a fluffy recliner and stroking a cat, a woman undergoes examination by surrounding unidentified technicians: a therapist (Chida Chaemchaeng), a dentist (Noah Kelly), and a secretary or scribe (Liz Roddy). Soon these figures develop into more specific ones from her past and may not be there at all. Written by RIPE cofounder Kelly and his mother Val Kelly, The Necessity of Hank doesn't so much chronicle as crack open the intertwined destinies of an accidental mother (Kerry Gudjohnsen) and her accident-prone son (Ryan Max Wilkes). Directed by Amanda Ortmayer, the action unfolds like a psychotic episode, jumbling into fleeting but vivid form a series of seemingly random memories, perspectives, emotions, and postures. The looseness of the narrative is a mixed blessing, resulting in a static quality despite the continual upheaval on stage. But the jarring design and quirky humor throughout nonetheless lead to an anxious, slow-dawning poignancy.