‘Safety Not Guaranteed’ Hits a Rock Musical Sweet Spot
Signature Theatre turns the cult time-travel comedy into a lively indie-rock musical powered by strong performances.
Intrepid pilots spotting the slimmest strip of runway in a storm, the team behind Signature Theatre’s Safety Not Guaranteed aim for a dicey sweet spot between rock musical and concert experience, and land squarely on the money.
Adapting the 2012 sci-fi comedy film directed by Colin Trevorrow, the show’s book writer Nick Blaemire and composer Ryan Miller have shaped Derek Connolly’s multiple-award-winning script into a narrative that feels natural onstage.
Having not yet seen the film, but just from watching the trailer, it’s clear Blaemire smartly kept some of the film’s sharpest lines and phrases, as delivered onscreen by the likes of Aubrey Plaza, Jake Johnson, and Mark Duplass. And he and Miller (a founding member and lead singer of the band Guster) also didn’t divert too far from the movie’s plum premise.
An editor from Seattle Magazine, seeking a human interest story, dispatches reporter Jeff (Preston Truman Boyd) to follow up on a peculiar classified ad Jeff found in a local paper: “Wanted: Someone to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. You’ll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. I have only done this once before. SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED.”
Treating the story very much like a joke, Jeff heads off to find who placed the ad, taking along magazine interns Arnau (Tyler Dobies) and Darius (Mia Pak). The oddball trio locate their self-proclaimed time traveler in nearby Oceanview. He’s Shop Rite employee Kenneth Calloway (Gunnar Manchester), and, to get to the bottom of his outlandish plan, Darius goes undercover to convince him that she’d like to go back in time with him.
Darius — that is, Pak, with her impassioned performance — had me convinced from the show’s first number, the indie-rock bop “Architects and Engineers,” that she was ready to lead this daring adventure wherever it took her character.
Balancing an appealing openness and crack comedic timing, Pak traces with moving sensitivity how Darius’ investigation shifts from the professional to the personal. Getting to know Kenneth, she learns things about herself, an aspect of her story that benefits greatly from the credible chemistry between Pak and Manchester, who’s charmingly sincere and paranoid as possibly crazy Kenneth.
Whether or not Darius truly believes Kenneth has the means to travel through time, she seriously contemplates the implications, and the journalistic ethics, of joining him on the trip. Unfulfilled in the present, what would she want from returning to the past? As Kenneth asks (in song, of course), “What’s Your Mission?” Why do you want to go back?
Jeff and Arnau join in on that one, each plotting their own mission in Oceanview. Both take on side quests that soundly complement the main plot, due in large part to the enjoyable portrayals by Boyd and Dobies.
Boyd plays jaded Jeff with a madcap energy that threatens to overtake the character at times — as in the Tenacious D-style number “I Wanna Go Back” — but generally keeps it funny without going overboard. Dobies adds compelling dimension and nuance to his part as somewhat sheepish intern Arnau gains confidence, embraces ambition, and finds gay romance with helpful librarian Tristan (Joshua Morgan).
Their potential love match gives Arnau something to sing about, and in this show, when the characters are really feeling it, they grab a microphone and jump onstage with the band.
Led by music director Jeff Tanski on keys, the band sits on its own stage rising slightly above the stage the story is grounded on, and whenever Darius, Kenneth, Arnau, or Jeff jumps up there, they’re like rock stars sharing their fears and desires with us in the most emphatic way they know how.
That dancing across the line between rock musical and rock concert is handled with clear intention throughout by director Oliver Butler and choreographer Lisa Fagan, and executed beautifully by the performers. Arnulfo Maldonado’s scenic design artfully supports the hybrid presentation, while Jason Lyons’ out-of-this-world lighting effectively frames the characters and sells the live rock show experience.
The concert light show even extends to some of Shahrzad Mazaheri’s costumes, embellished with fluorescent light strips and a joie de vivre that characterizes this entire production, as it probes the deepest mysteries of the universe, time, and space.
Safety Not Guaranteed (★★★★☆) runs through April 12 at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave. in Arlington, Va., with a Pride Night performance March 20, and Discussion Night performances March 25 and April 7. Tickets are $47 to $112. Call 703-820-9771, or visit sigtheatre.org.
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