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BACK STAGE WEST- January 30, 2003

Critics ‘Pick of the Week’

Reviewed by Polly Warfield

“Deedee Bransky, like her aptly named onstage counterpart Weedee, had the good -or bad- luck to come of age at the height of the hippie revolution. She never got over it. She remains a flower child-and this, she swears, is her true-life story. It’s a wonder she made it through in such good shape. Deedee gives pot the credit. I’d say it’s more likely that blithe spirit of hers, always getting her out of the trouble it was always getting her into.

This play has been struggling inside her like an unborn child trying to get out. Now that it has she says she feels much lighter. We could say she has exorcised her demons-but that puts too sober a face on this lively, light hearted, often very funny chronicle. As producer of her own (first) play, Bransky’s selection of Elisa Bocanegra is the perfect choice to play her flower-child self. In the radiantly warm-hearted, rather more zaftig mode of heroines like Toula of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Bocanegra overflows with empathy, ebullience, and good humor. Also she has an extraordinarily expressive face, the most eloquent eyes, and she is pretty terrific.

As her first love, Woody, Geoffrey Pomeroy is clean-cut and likeable. Woody volunteers for Vietnam duty before they know Weedee is pregnant. Guy Klender as a meat-cleaver-wielding butcher-abortionist takes care of that. When Woody returns from Vietnam a battle-shocked alcoholic wreck, Weedee tends him briefly but –no codependent enabler-soon heads for Amsterdam, a German Bolshevik commune, and a fleeting same-sex experience in Afghanistan with an exotic tarot card reader (Artemis Pebdani).

Back in L.A. as the second millennium approaches, Weedee tries but can’t adapt to a strict Jewish husband (Edward Tinney in a yarmulke), has a brief extra-marital fling with a passing stranger (David DeSimone), who sports an outrageously improbable member, welcomes the return of a sobered-up Woody, and finds true love with decent mechanical genius Ken (Klender again). With the exception of Bocanegra and Pomeroy, each of the eight actors, including Juliet Curry and J.R. Dziengel, take on a multitude of characters-and all seem happy to do so, which speaks well for the talented director, Kerry Lambert, whose clever staging displays flair and imagination.

Great ‘60s music links the scenes, designed by Joe Pew. Sean Tanner’s lighting, Bob Blackburn’s sound, and Layla Delridge’s vivid costumes serve the play’s spirit, as does GG’s pot-promoting visual art. Sunny Lombardo’s fey Pot Fairy is right out of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Dreadlocked Ethiopian minstrel Alula hovers and sings-but not enough. Peace for Pot is an adult-rated psychedelic Alice-in-Wonderland trip down the rabbit hole into a world seen as it should be whether it is or not.

Peace for Pot, presented by Deedee Bransky at the Globe Playhouse, 1107 N. Kings Rd., W. Hollywood. Thurs-Sat. 8p.m., Sun. 2p.m. Jan.23-Feb.2. $25. (323) 634-2876.

HIGH TIMES- January, 2003, On-line Buzz

PEACE FOR POT, a marijuana-centric play debuts in L.A.

Reviewed by Michael Simmons

One of the most potent methods to combat idiotic, redundant and cruel prohibition against cannabis is for artists to honestly portray its use as a creative tool, a potent medicine, and a normal part of life. Playwright Deedee Bransky succeeds in unapologetically creating a thinly veiled autobiographical portrait of a baby boomer’s lifetime relationship with marijuana in the Los Angeles stage debut of Peace for Pot.

From classic adolescent experimentation to her love affair with a Vietnam vet, Bransky’s fictitious self, named Weedee (played by Elisa Bocanegra in a broadly comedic performance) waits for a duffel bag of pot from ‘Nam that is both the thread and denouement of the story. In between, she joins a group of German revolutionaries, follows the hippie trail through Afghanistan, and marries an anal-retentive husband. The story is played as high farce- pun intended. While fretting about her kids’ discovering her pot use, she’s determined not to become her kids’ role model, “let someone else teach them to roll.”

Eventually Weedee settles down with a centered and open-minded man and finally establishes contact with her Vietnam vet boyfriend. Marijuana is a constant in what is a full and exciting life, loaded with the requisite sorrow but infused with a cannabinoided joy. Director Kerry Lambert punctuates the action with characters like the Pot Fairy (Sunny Lombardo), a green nymph who introduces each scene, and the Ethiopian singer/guitarist Alula, who adds lively musical accompaniment.

Peace for Pot is the perfect, upbeat antidote to Reefer Madness.

LARCHMONT CHRONICLE - February, 2003

PEACE FOR POT tackles love, life and personal freedom

By Alicia Doyle

Deedee Bransky is going to pot. For peace, that is.

The Windsor Square grandmother, who spent 30 years writing her first play, is now ready to premier the stage performance, “Peace for Pot”. Considered an “out-of-the-closet marijuana story,” Bransky said the play subtly provokes the politically correct society of the 21st century. Despite today’s laws that criminalize marijuana, Bransky said the actors convey her enthusiasm for the herbal remedy, as well as the reality that she smokes it, and plans to continue.

“This is a comedy, but it’s not like Cheech and Chong,” said Bransky , 54. “This is about a mother and housewife, volunteer worker and upstanding member of the community who is saying, ‘yes, this is part of my life. What’s the big deal?’”

“Peace for Pot” is based on Bransky’s life adventures as she escapes from the guilt of challenging relationships in search of her own freedom. With pot as her companion, “Weedee,” discovers the struggles of a Vietnam War soldier, the bliss of young love, the trials of a problem marriage and the release of self-discovery. “Pot is not the main theme,” Bransky said. Rather, it is the thread that ties the 15 scenes together in an effort to enlighten, educate and elevate one’s spirit.

In addition to being a playwright, the mother of two worked in public relations and event planning, and was a production assistant for the film industry. After graduating from San Diego State University with an English degree, she lived in Germany to teach English to junior high school students and write her book, “Lass Los” which means “letting go” in German.

She spent time at the United Nations in Geneva as an assistant to a human rights activist, and later volunteered for the local YMCA and homeless organizations.

When she started working on the play three decades ago, the original idea had little to do with pot, Bransky said. But as the story progressed, she saw the common thread that could tie the story comedically together. She hopes the play will dispel some of the myths surrounding marijuana, and raise awareness that it is not much different than drinking a glass of wine.

“People who drink wine are presidents, royalty and the upper class; wine is socially accepted by our culture because it’s an acceptable buzz,” Bransky said. “They both give you a buzz, so then it becomes a judgment call of the buzz.”

Nevertheless, Bransky expects her story about a taboo subject to draw some criticism. She plans to take it head on. “I’m the poster grandma,” she said. “I dare someone to judge me.”