‘Justiceville’: Good, bad guys are all a hoot

Generally in the genre of superheroes, we root for the good guys.

No so in the case of “Justiceville.”

This is a dynamo of an original play about superheroes and the women in their lives by Everett Community College drama instructor Beth Peterson.

It’s also about much deeper things, like finding your niche in life.

And though the superhero in “Justiceville” is quite funny and deep-voiced, I found myself really charmed by the bad guy.

The bad guy is Alexander Bozo, played with remarkable poise and comic cadence by Alex DeRoest, who was just plum perfect.

Everything Bozo did was a riot. His costume was totally rad, from the ruffles on the shirt sleeves to the tip of his big red nose. He at times recited Latin and sang in an operatic voice. And he occasionally talked to his sweetie pie in baby talk (“Whose my wittle candy bar?”).

Other standouts in this production include Chris Mudd, playing Dark Avenger with superhero-like powers of deadpan delivery; Chrissy Kayatta who played Dark Avenger’s press agent Mary Stacy with aplomb and then turned that prowess into convincing doubt as she became the reckless Scarlett Menace; and the hilarious scene-stealer Geoffrey Kuth, who played the sex-crazed villain Chuppacabra.

(My suggestion for whoever plays Bozo’s girlfriend Violet Crumble would be to dispose of the East Coast accent in future performances. Here, Violet was supposed to be a dizzy Miss Adelaide type but the botched accent just got in the way of what could have been some very funny moments.)

Peterson, who has had other original works produced at Center Stage Theatre, Stone Soup and Fringe/ACT Theatre, wrote in some wonderful touches in “Justiceville.”

Those touches begin with the opening where nostalgia is piped in with the theme music from all our favorite old superhero shows: “Batman,” “Flipper,” “Mission Impossible” and “Scooby Doo.”

The dialogue is a mix of campy and contemporary. There are also two great running gags. One is the perennial sidekick Dark Child, played adorably by Joren Thiessen, who keeps getting blown up or shot or something, but he always pops back up in the next episode. And the gag that nobody can remember that the frustrated Dark Avenger has changed his name from Capt. Justice.

The fight scenes are also pretty fisticuff-tastic, so kudos to Deb Fialkow for her work on the fight choreography.

Then of course there are the double twists at the end, where our heroines find themselves face to face with their own arch enemies: themselves.

Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424; goffredo@heraldnet.com.

“Justiceville”

7:30 p.m. Dec. 3 to 5 in Everett Community College’s Baker Hall, Room 120, 2000 Tower St., Everett. Admission is by donation. Not recommended for children because of strong language and staged violence. Call 425-388-9525 or visit www.everettcc.edu.