STAGE WEST: Loud Fridge Theatre Group's "Airness"

These air guitarists just want to have fun -- even when not performing.                     Xing Photo Studio

            I was never an air guitar guy. More like a tennis-racket-guitar guy. You should have seen me hold that Wilson racket like a Fender Stratocaster and “play” Hendrix doing “Red House” or Clapton doing “Layla.”
            On second thought, no. You shouldn’t have seen me. In retrospect, I was pretty embarrassing, but at least I kept it private, tennis-racket-guitar-playing alone in my living room.
            So I have discovered newfound respect for the serious air guitar players who do their thing not only to entertain each other but live crowds too. They may be nerds of a sort, but they’re somehow cool at the same time.
            This I’ve learned from seeing Chelsea Macantel’s “Airness.”
            Under the direction of Kian Kline-Chilton, Loud Fridge Theatre Group is staging “Airness” (in its San Diego debut) at Moxie Theatre in Rolando. It only runs through Sunday, April 19, and admission is free (donations accepted), so put aside your misconceptions or real-guitar-player snobbery and check it out. It’s worth it.
            To my happy surprise the 100-minute-long, one-act play is more than just air guitarists taking turns with rock favorites blasting. There’s a story here, one populated by six vividly drawn characters, each of them likable (well, except for one that’s intentionally not likable).
            The central figure is Nina (Shelby Garza), a “real” guitarist who ventures into the world of air guitar, ostensibly out of sheer curiosity. (We find out later that she has a much more personal reason for doing so.) Her skepticism of and condescension toward the air guitarists she meets won’t last long once she gets to know them and understand their passion, commitment and camaraderie.
            The encouraging Shreddy Eddy f (Lester Isariuz) becomes her air guitar teacher, initiating her into his world and that of his friends and fellow competitors: the bodacious and aptly named Golden Thunder (Isai Luna) the sensitive and philosophical (for an air guitarist at least) Facebender (William Huffaker) and the in your face with a middle finger Cannibal Queen (Sofia Safidi).
            Hovering over them all is the defending U.S. Air Guitar champion D Vicious (Jacob Lopez), who it turns out is no stranger to Cannibal Queen – or to Nina. If there’s a “bad guy” in “Airness” it’s the also aptly named D Vicious, who before he even shows himself to be a sexist pig has already sold out by starring in commercials for Sprite. Yep, the soft drink. So I suppose you could say D Vicious has gone soft.
            “Airness” follows Nina (who soon will become The Nina) on her path to acceptance among her peers, acceptance among air guitar audiences and (moral of story) acceptance of herself. Interspersed within this narrative journey are air guitar performances by all the others, preliminaries to the U.S. Championship that will be the play’s finale.
            The air guitar bits are abbreviated but undertaken with full throttle sincerity. Each character demonstrates his or her own style, much to the howling delight of the audience at Moxie (patrons are encouraged to get involved and do they ever!).
            For me, Safidi’s Cannibal Queen is by far the most exciting air player – not that I’m any kind of legitimate judge.
            As to who will win in the end, it’s predictable.
            The various interpersonal dramas that occur within the run-up to the championship in NYC are brief but do add to the complexity of the characters who otherwise might have come off as cartoonish. They also give the cast members an opportunity to flex more than their air-guitar muscles. Huffaker is notable as the older, more worldly Facebender and is probably the most sympathetic figure among the bunch. Safidi gets to be fierce and righteous when out of the air guitar spotlight, while Isariuz is convincing as a regular guy who embodies the Ramones song he performs to: “I Don’t Want To Grow Up.”
            Garza’s The Nina is our vicarious initiation into the air guitar kingdom and her various changes are fun to watch as she gains skill and, more important, self-confidence.
            Telling the “Airness” tale in one over-long act is nonetheless entertaining throughout, though the championship ending feels hurried. Satisfying but hurried.
            A bonus is hearing at least parts of so many rock ‘n’ roll tunes from your memory banks, whether they be nuggets like The Donnas’ “Take It Off” or trivialities like REO Speedwagon’s “Keep On Loving You.” One person’s clunker is another person’s classic.
            One more thing: “Airness” refers to that state of transcendence that only true, dedicated air guitarists are capable of achieving.
            Something that tennis-racket players won’t understand.
            “Airness” runs through Sunday at Moxie Theatre in Rolando.