Pure Camp and ‘Plastic’ From Sumner

Product placement in the theater? There’s a definite element of commercial hucksterism in Jeffrey Sumner’s one-man show “My Life in Plastic” at Theatre/Theater. Thankfully, the corporate toadyism is largely offset by the sheer camp of the piece.

Not so long ago, Sumner was a starving artist on the verge of bankruptcy. In desperation, he created the character of Pam Teflon, supreme Tupperware consultant, a bosomy lady with the personality of a hyperthyroidic cheerleader and a big--very big--blond wig. To give you an idea, this hairdo makes Carol Channing’s look naturalistic.

Since Sumner has begun hawking Tupperware in drag as Pam, he has vaulted from relative indigence to the No. 1 Tupperware salesperson in the Pacific region. In fact, Sumner has become a sort of camp icon, whose Tupperware “performances” are in hot demand.

This “Tupperware Odyssey,” which Sumner co-wrote with his director, John Gidcomb, is billed as a “real live Tupperware party!” And indeed, Tupperware consultants are seated in the lobby, poised to sell anything from the full-color company brochure to the Super Crisp It Lettuce Container (part of Pam’s special Fridge Set).

Enamored by the bombastic Pam, we can forgive--but not quite forget--the fact that Sumner’s show is an unabashed paean to Tupperware. Despite the fact that he deals openly with his own homosexuality, Sumner plays it relatively straight, gentling down his typical irony and carefully toeing the company line. (Did Sumner have to submit his show for approval to Tupperware executives before getting the green light for this production?) An episode featuring Pam in Space, doing battle with evil competitor Dr. Generica, tries to go into orbit, but only succeeds in substituting a sort of tame surrealism for the biting satire we crave.

Sumner’s main gripe is that his own identity is becoming fused with Pam’s, especially in the public’s mind. By venting his own residual bitterness about the compromises artists must make in a cash-and-carry society, Sumner lends needed ballast to the perennially perky Pam.

As if anxious to emphasize his credentials as a serious artist, Sumner wisely opens the evening with selections from his acclaimed one-man show “The Eccentric Buffet,” which played at Theatre/Theater a few seasons back. Directed by Bill Damaschke, the excerpts show us Sumner in his natural context--as a serious actor, whose multifarious repertoire of comic characters ranges from the farcical to the painfully poignant.

One can’t blame Sumner for exploiting the charming--and lucrative--Pam Teflon for all she’s worth. However, one can only hope that Pam’s increasing financial success will give Sumner the means and leisure to pursue the pure, character-driven comic characters he does best.

* “My Life in Plastic” and selections from “The Eccentric Buffet,” Theatre/Theater, 1713 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Ends Wednesday. $15. (213) 980-7912. Running time: 2 hours.