Susan Jeremy, ‘What I Wish I’d Said’
”Robert Will Show You the Door,” opened last night in the tiny theatre at Art Vallarta. The stage could hardly contain the number of characters that sprang from this one-woman show that goes from here to London, England.
Starting with the unmistakably New York accent and bouncing through various inner-city barrios with lightning speed and perfect clarity, we watch a 60-something woman become a 17-year-old hip-hop gangbanger. It’s an extraordinary revelation!
”RWSYTD (Tales of Being Fired)” takes us on an innocent journey through Susan’s life, starting at about age 16 when she gets unceremoniously canned from her first job at a fish and chips shop. Circumstances always just beyond her control make for funny situations that she acts out brilliantly.
Spontaneous, appreciative applause occasionally stops the show in its tracks, but Susan is never derailed. A quick bow of acknowledgment, and she’s right back in character. Her detailed look at teaching a few young mentally challenged teenagers in a locked hospital psych ward quickly brought the mayhem of ”One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” front and center. That vignette right there could be the beating heart of a brand-new show.
In retrospect, it is curious that Jeremy never lays the blame on her unfortunate job endings on anyone else and intuitively understands that each time she was fired put her closer to what ”God’s Plan” for her was, bringing an audience to life through laughter, by acting out our worst fears on stage and landing a happy ending.
Her comedic timing is flawless, and her ability to mimic anything and anybody – birds, machinery, and people like Joan Rivers, Tina Turner, Carol Burnett, Mick Jagger, and her mom are perfectly and eerily executed. Susan Jeremy is never mean, and she sure could be given any circumstance surrounding losing a job.
Another breath-of-fresh-air aspect of Susan Jeremy’s life, her gayness, is revealed slowly and succinctly in a few paragraphs scattered throughout her monologue, with not an ounce of angst, or tears, or needing sympathy or acceptance. It was a revelation to her, to us, like the need to find another job. A reality that didn’t need fanfare, trauma, or explanation.
Before Susan and her partner and publicist, Joy, head to England to perform ”Robert Will Show You the Door (Tales of Being Fired),” she has three more shows at Art Vallarta: tonight, Saturday, and next week on March 6 and 7. Show times are 8 pm. As always, check with VallartaCalendar.com for more information. For tonight’s performance, tickets are only available at the door, From Here.
