Petr Zelenka's first play,
Tales of Ordinary Madness (or
Tales of Common Insanity), was called a "European hit" in media in Oregon after a rave reception from the audience at Portland's CoHo theatre last Friday. The first ever North American professional production of the play was directed by the play's translator Štěpán Šimek. The production runs until February 23 and most performances have already sold out. The first review in the Sunday issue of Portland's most important daily, The Oregonian, praises the play calling it a "gem of audacious absurdity". „It's at times gleefully perverse, but it's somehow always deeply human. And while it is hilarious from start to finish, it is suffused with a subtle yet fundamental sadness that deepens its effect," the critic, Marty Hughly, writes. The review stresses good acting by Brian Allard as Peter and Dalene Young and Michael Chambers as his parents, as well as that of Kristen Martz in the double role of ballet dancer and a mannequin who comes to life. The department store mannequin who, in Zelenka‘s comedy becomes a sexual object for both protagonists, Peter and The Fly, has also become a mascot of the Portland production website: her blog tries to lure the audience both to the show and to a walk through Portland's department stores.