bash: latterday plays at The Actors Circle Theatre

Photo by Ric Perez-Selsky
                                                                                            bash: latterday plays
Three one-acts by Neil LaBute


The Actors Circle Theatre
(7313 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood 90046)


A production of Coeurage Theatre Company


Cast
Man - Robert Hardin
John - Peter Weidman
Sue - Sara Lorriane Perry
Woman - Jessica Anna Blair


These three acts, bound together by the faith of their characters (and carefully hidden violent streaks), are each phenomenally performed by an amazing cast assembled and directed by Meredith Hinckley Schmidt. Each of the three acts is its own one-act play. Iphigenia in Orem and A Gaggle of Saints make up acts one and two, presenting us with upper middle class Mormons who, while smiling and winning on the outside, walk around with dark, dark secrets. After intermission is Medea Redux, the longest of the three one-acts, this one dealing with infanticide (as you could probably guess from the title).

In Iphigenia in Orem, a businessman (Robert Hardin) divulges the part of his life he can tell no one to a stranger in a Las Vegas hotel room. Cheerful smile and engaging attitude never diminishing, the man reveals in sections the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of one of his children, and his own involvement therein. Mr. Hardin's performance is intense and layered as the salesman's heavy guilt and determined positivity come at you simultaneously and unmercifully from beginning to end. 

A Gaggle of Saints features two adorable college students/long-term sweethearts attending a posh party in Manhattan. John (Peter Weidman) and Sue (Sara Lorraine Perry) recount in two-part harmony the cute (but violent) circumstances surrounding their introduction, the extra cute efforts to get themselves and their friends into New York from Boston and finally the not-so-cute activities John gets into once Sue has drifted off to sleep for the evening. Mr. Weidman and Ms. Perry exude charm and perfection in their performances. One could easily believe they'd just roamed off the top of a wedding cake to make friends with everyone. Mr. Weidman shows his considerable ability as an actor in the last turn of this piece, providing the audience with a harrowing glimpse of what could lie beneath the unassuming grin of any friend or lover.

The woman (Jessica Anna Blair) in Madea Redux, however, is neither polished nor charming. Smart but obviously lacking higher education, she's clearly in trouble from the moment the stage lights come up. Nervous, smoking and talking into a police station tape recorder, this is someone whose violence did not stay a secret for long; though there is a lifelong secret she, too, has kept. Over the course of fifty minutes, she builds her case: an underage affair with her junior high English teacher, his abandonment of her once she became pregnant, her life as a single parent. Ms. Blair is riveting as she unravels; there are no phony smiles or facades here. She wears her pain on her sleeve and is unapologetic for her actions. She confronts you with the unthinkable and lets it fester. You will leave the theater changed.

bash: latterday plays runs now through May 15th (Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 7pm). Tickets are "pay what you want" at the door or in advance through Brown Paper Tickets. For more information, please visit www.coeurage.org. 

Director: Meredith Hinckley Schmidt
Assistant Director and Stage Manager: Ric Perez-Selsky
Lighting Design: Michelle Stann
Sound Design: Joe Calarco
Set Design: Ric Perez-Selsky

"An Evening in Limbo" at The Great Scott Theatre, Met Theatre Complex

Photo by Adam Princenthal

"An Evening in Limbo"
Two one-acts by Peter J. Roth


The Great Scott Theatre
Met Theatre Complex
(1089 North Oxford Street, Los Angeles 90029)


Zombies, nightmares and wiener dogs! This set of one-acts contain enough outside-of-the-box laughs and drama to please loyal theater fans and casual patrons alike. 


"An Evening in Limbo" is performed Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through April 30th at 8:00 pm. Tickets are $20 ($15 for students with a valid ID and seniors). Reservations can be made through brownpapertickets.com or by phone through the Met theater at (323) 957-1152.


Quick and In My Arms

Cast

Lazarus - Gus Krieger

Dr. Morrow, Father Lawrence - Timothy Portnoy

Garson - Sean Faye

Sylvia - Christina Ung

Molly - Erin Miller Williams

There’s a lot to admire about Peter J. Roth’s one-act, Quick and In My Arms. First of all, despite the surge in zombie popularity in today’s culture, dramatic works featuring the undead are in short supply, especially plays that don’t have an axe to grind about the hereafter. Quick helps fill that void by providing off-beat characters and a unique world, despite a few flaws.

The play begins in a doctor’s office. Lazarus (Gus Krieger) hasn’t been feeling well and is hoping for a quick flu diagnosis and some meds. After failed attempts to get vital signs, however, his doctor (Timothy Portnoy) announces that he does not have the flu, but is actually deceased. Despite the fact that he is still walking and talking, Laz ultimately accepts his diagnosis and tries to make peace with his undeadness by seeking out a similarly stranded soul.

Mr. Krieger does a fantastic job balancing Lazarus’s angst over being dead with the many comedic elements running through the narrative. Much of Krieger’s work is subtle, which is a testament to his craft as it would be all too tempting to a lesser actor to send everything over the top. Another interesting aspect is the strong presence of “Zoe,” an off-stage character the audience never sees or hears from directly, yet who nearly controls the final scene. What we do know of her comes entirely by way of two other characters, Garson (Sean Faye) and Sylvia (Christina Ung), who, themselves, never met Zoe in the flesh. It’s a fascinating mechanism and director Kim Buser uses it to its upmost. Additionally, the character of Sylvia in this scene is played with such energy and earnestness by Ms. Ung that the audience wants to follow her out of the graveyard and be her BFF.

The play’s main flaw is one often found in one-act dramas. Roth relies on a lengthy monologue to familiarize the audience with Lazarus’s wife, Molly (Erin Miller Williams), and wrap up the play. Ms. Williams does as well as she can with some difficult material, but ultimately the pace and tone of the work is altered and it subsequently ends on an awkward note.


Directed by Kim Buser

Sound Design by Kim Buser
Costume Design by John C. Houston IV
Lighting Design by Luis Salazar
Stage Manager - Marisa Rojas





The Endless Night


Cast
Ruth - Kimi Buser
Martin - Dario Torres
Joe - Matt Calloway

Keeping with the theme of lives suspended between life and death comes Roth’s The Endless Night. This is a mind bender of a play, with juicy performances and so many u-turns it will make your head spin.

The Endless Night opens as a vacationing couple move a bed outdoors to enjoy the sky and the sea. Ruth (Kim Buser) and Martin (Dario Torres) are young and passionate, drunk with love and beginning the next stage of their lives together – a career move for Martin that will take them to Brussels. Just as the plans for their future seem set, Ruth drifts to sleep and awakens to find herself in a bedroom with a different husband, a different life and a small child. We learn that Martin is a dream of a memory of Ruth’s first love who has long since died. Unable to leave her dream life, Ruth is determined to trade in her family for Never Never Land. A handful of pills later and Ruth is back in the arms of Martin, but soon enough she suspects the falseness of her world and longs to be back with her real-world husband Joe (Matt Calloway) and baby daughter. From there, reality and dreams are so mixed and confused that the audience is challenged to determine for themselves what to believe.

Director Daniel Armas does a tremendous job crafting a coherent story from a complex script. Kim Buser shows her impressive range as she moves from charming and affectionate lover to hysterical widow within moments. Matt Calloway also plays two sides of a coin, as the angry and concerned husband and later (as Ruth loses her grip on reality) the voice of paranoia and conspiracy. Dario Torres, a fresh face to the Fresh Baked company, is fun and sexy as the career soldier on his way up the military ladder.

This work suffers from the same end-of-play monologue problem as Quick and In My Arms. Of course, one-acts by definition are brief, and organically concluding something so complicated could be quite difficult. However, an excellent drama not only presents unique circumstances but also allows them to resolve in a natural way.

Directed by Daniel Armas
Sound Design by Kim Buser
Costume Design by John C. Houston IV
Lighting Design by Luis Salazar
Stage Manager - Marisa Rojas

The Bluest Eye opens this weekend at The Miles Memorial Playhouse

PHANTOM PROJECTS THEATRE GROUP presents

 Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning novelist Toni Morrison’s

THE BLUEST EYE

Adapted by Lydia R. Diamond

Opening Friday APRIL 8, 2011 at 8pm

Running 8pm Thurs-Saturday, matinees Sat and Sunday at 2pm, Sunday evenings 7pm

(There will be no 7pm show on closing night April 24, 2011)

Based on the controversial novel, this play was originally commissioned for stage by Steppenwolf Theatre Company.  Banned in some areas of the country, this adaptation focuses on the perception of beauty, love, and racism aspects of our culture.

"Eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove wants nothing more than to be loved by her family and schoolmates. Instead, she faces constant ridicule and abuse. She blames her dark skin and prays for blue eyes, sure that love will follow. With rich language and bold vision, this powerful adaptation of an American classic explores the crippling toll that a legacy of racism has taken on a community, a family, and an innocent girl."

The Miles Memorial Playhouse

1130 Lincoln Blvd.

Santa Monica, CA 90403

For tickets (714) 690-2900, or online at www.PhantomProjects.com Tickets are $22.