"All My Children" Slays at Richard Hugo House

"All My Children" is the new one man show from local actor and writer Matt Smith. Originally conceived as part of the 2009-2010 Hugo Literary Series, his 20 minute short piece was so well received that Hugo House commissioned a full length monologue. And many thanks for that, because "All My Children" is quite possibly the most deranged and hilarious hour and a half in our recent memory. Which is saying a lot.

"All My Children" follows Max Poth, one the most loveably selfish and deranged bastards on God's green earth, which is to say exactly our kind of guy. He tracks down the grown children of his ex-girlfriends and announces to all of them that he is their 'real father'. Which, spoiler alert, he isn't. What happens next is priceless.

To be honest, we were a little apprehensive going into this. One man shows are typically either very good or very...not so good. Combined with the far flung premise, you can forgive us for our cautious optimism. Our suspicions could not have been more off base. The sold-out audience was in stitches from the get go. The writing was sharp and dry. The delivery was pitch perfect. Matt is a talented performer with stunning comedic timing who just nails it as Max. We would love to see more, more, more - Max Poth, will you be our real father too?

June 4 & 5, 11 & 12 // 8:00 p.m. // Richard Hugo House // Tickets $20, $15 for Hugo House members and $10 for students