Surprises, humor highlights of ‘When Mom Died on Saturn’

"When Mom Died on Saturn" unveils the voice of an exciting playwright: 23 year-old local Brandon Oliver Jones.

The first act of this season's Las Vegas Little Theatre competition winner demonstrates the author's beautifully whacked sense of humor and his instinct for dialogue and quiet plot. Much of the joy in this work is in its surprises. So I'll just say we begin in the ocean, where two men are struggling for their lives, then are thrown into a mental institution where a young man is having trouble figuring out reality, and wind up in the home of the patient's brother, who is straining to provide a healthy emotional environment for his just-released sibling.

Jones' childlike cynicism keeps the laughs coming. The script feels born of a young person because the author makes the humor feel new. It's as if Jones is sharing his sudden discovery of the craziness of being alive. And there's sweetness to his sarcasm that provides a skillful contrast to his verbal bite.

Unfortunately, the play falls apart in the second act. Jones turns gooey on us, and seems to feel the need to explain every detail of his plot.

My impression is that the first act (which clocks in at about 1:10) should be extended by about 10 or 15 minutes to gently complete (but not overexplain) the story, and the second act should be dumped. The script needs more mystery.

Gus Langley is an effective teddy bear of a loony mental patient who is able to get us to believe in him as a three-dimensional person. Shane Cullum comes across as a practical, caring brother. You can see his inner turmoil.

Director TJ Larsen does justice to Jones' blissful loopiness in the first act, with expert pacing, quick scene-changes, and energetic characters. He falls victim, though, to Jones' predictable and preachy second half. It might have been helpful if Larsen had fought against the heavy-handedness.

But what a fine first full-length play. Jones sounds like no one else. And he obviously has a lot to tell us about the world we live in.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at vegastheater chat@aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.