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'GET YOUR WAR ON'
XL Weekend Reviews
By Jeanne Claire van Ryzin
The Austin American Statesman
Monday, January 30, 2006

What better match: the Rude Mechanicals and an irreverent, politically charged Internet comic strip.

Seriously, who else to bring to life David Rees' acerbic, absurd and always surprising "Get Your War On" than a theater collective who's made modern absurdity their modus operandi?

The result is a 70-minute brilliant and sardonic blitz.

Rees' comic strip launched Oct. 9, 2001, when many humorists were still too jittery to start the critical laughs. But through his singular mix of stiff-looking clip-art office workers and hip-hop inflected banter, Rees offered a comic outlet to all the shock and confusion of the post-Sept. 11 world.

The Rudes staged a workshop production last season that ended up an alt sleeper hit. This time they've sharpened things even more.

Adapted by Kirk Lynn, the script follows almost precisely Rees' profane prattlings. And the Rudes smartly animate Rees' cartoon through the stuff they've perfected: rapid-fire delivery, energetic physical acting and moments of silly dancing to funny pop music. The Rude's "War On" rockets along, the dark deadpan and funny fatalism paced out as the ensemble cast takes turns flipping through transparencies on an dated-looking overhead projector.

"Oh my God, this War On Terrorism is gonna rule! I can't wait until the war is over and there's no more terrorism," Rees' comic ranting begins.

And the Rudes rule for bringing it to us live.