"Bright Ideas": Status-seeking turns deadly

Shakespeare never explored the possibilities of death by pesto. But Cleveland playwright Eric Coble did, in his deliciously mean, green comic satire, "Bright Ideas."

Coble's shrewd takeoff on "Macbeth" has an upwardly mobile couple so obsessed with getting their 3-year-old son into the perfect preschool, they engage in a little culinary homicide.

Though just now having its Seattle debut at the fringey hands of Art Attack Theater Ensemble, "Bright Ideas" has been a popular title around the country since its 2003 Off Broadway run — thanks in part to its skillful parallels with "Macbeth," and broad satirical targets. Don't we all know so-called yuppies a lot like Genevra (Amy Lynn Watson) and Josh (Ryan Barret)? Couples obsessed with giving their offspring the best of everything — from nutritionally correct snacks to boutique birthday parties?

Coble thinks so, and works the theme and its offshoots (cutthroat competition, ferocious status-seeking, financial overextension) hard and merrily.

One wishes Art Attack director Justin C. Lockwood had trusted the script's jokes more, and damped down the loud mugging of his cast. Their volume and frantic stage business are often pitched too high for Capitol Hill's pocket-size Walrus Theatre.

Still, there are choice chuckles to be had as Genevra and Josh sink deeper into toil and trouble.

Their main obstacle to getting their kid into Bright Ideas, the Harvard of preschools, is Genevra's snotty co-worker, single parent Denise (Liz Moisan, the most subtle actor on view). That's where the toxic pesto comes in.

But as Macbeth warned, there's always "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" to worry about. And as Josh turns to slacking and booze, Genevra gets more grasping and wacko.

Moisan, Gabe Franken and Andrea Nelson supply quick-change cameos of teachers and overweening parents who cross swords with Watson's increasingly demonic Genevra — who boasts the worst traits of both Macbeths.

Playwrights have been making fun of noxiously status-seeking consumerists for decades now, and "Bright Ideas" does not plow much new ground. It also bypasses chances to justify its length by developing its hints of a murder mystery, or class-warfare portrait.

The tale feels a bit dated now, too, in an economy that will make a lot of parents rethink such luxuries as a super-pricey nursery school.

But stick with "Bright Ideas" to the end, and you'll get some of the show's best gags — like that of a daddy who, no matter how hard he tries, can't wash the pesto off his murderous paws.

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com