Fight Girl Battle World at Asheville Community Theatre
Wisely sticking to the humor/entertainment lane after its delightful production of Clue last fall, Asheville Community Theatre dishes out accessible nerdy fun with Fight Girl Battle World.
Written by Qui Nguyen, now best known for Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon, the energetic stage show features Josh Batenhorst’s loving direction evident in each scene as he and his creative collaborators push the boundaries of costumes, makeup, and props to levels rarely seen on area stages.
The tale of the galaxy’s final surviving human female, E-V (the confident Michelle Palau, improbably making her acting debut), starts strong with scenes of her existence as an arena scrapper, going toe-to-toe with a ferocious creature resembling one of the sand worms from Dune. While the production design rarely reaches that level of grandeur and intricacy again, Fight Girl Battle World remains a low-budget feast for the senses as the Night King-esque General Dan’h (Scott Cameron) seeks out E-V for a…well, very particular assignment.
Her subsequent adventures bring her in close contact with a host of colorful characters, including sarcastic robot LC-4 (Joshua Kerber), who eventually breaks into a Millennial pop standard when his circuitry hilariously lets him down, and multiple villains with doctorates from the Maniacal Laugh Academy.
Blaine Weiss’ Mikah Monach clearly understands the assignment, and can handle plungers-turned-steering-apparatuses like a pro, while Alec Shull’s journey as President Ya-Wi takes an fascinating turn from cackling puppet to cackling human — and, like Weiss, his relishing of the part feels essential to the tone that Batenhorst strives to achieve.
Other allies in this mission include the one-two punch of Jill Summers and Nikki LaRue on the scenic/multi-media design and makeup sides, whose inventive props reach a peak with an irreverent representation of a starship battle. Ida Bostian’s costume contributions likewise make an impact, and each time one of LaRue’s puppetry creations pop up — be it a lizard taxi or Gree Gree, a sentient tree-like being held captive in a zoo — the imaginative sight is bound to induce a gleeful giggle.
Further enhancing the sensory experience as final human male Adon-Ra (Jon Robinson) and his non-human ex-husband J’an Jah (Victoria Chay) take on more active roles are intelligent incorporations of video screens to progress the story, effective uses of the sliding floor to convey motion as well as move between multiple scenes in the show’s climactic stretch, compelling fight choreography by Strother Stingley (and non-fight choreography by Amanda Klinikowski), and comedic musical cues, including a silly theme song and an intergalactic remix of “California Love.”
Still, a few clunky transitions partially impede the show’s flow and it’s difficult to hear some dialogue — especially early on when the stakes are being established — but without fail, the action fills in the blanks.
Even better, Fight Girl Battle World isn’t bogged down by any straining for deeper meaning. Though messages about unlikely friendships and combatting evil are there, they don’t dominate the storytelling, leaving the intermission-free 90 minutes to cook and keep engaged attendees smiling throughout.
Fight Girl Battle World runs through March 27 at Asheville Community Theatre. For details and tickets, visit ashevilletheatre.org.
(Photo: Studio Misha Photography)
