Theater Reviews

Including this week's pick, Bush is Bad

Comments (0) By L.A. Weekly Theater Critics Monday, Apr 9 2007

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AN IMPENDING RUPTURE OF THE BELLY A man with a 9-iron and fear in his soul is a force to reckon with in Matt Pelfrey’s jaundiced fable about suburban paranoia. Clay (Eric Pargac) has some assertiveness issues when it comes to standing up to a neighborhood lout (Troy Metcalf) who allows his dog to relieve itself on Clay’s lawn. Egged on by an armchair Rambo at work (Doug Newell), ridiculed by his homeless brother (Shawn Lee) and, at a few critical moments, undermined by his own pregnant wife (Aubrey Saverino), Clay finally screws up his courage to act. His deeds, however, unleash disaster and ruin. Dámaso Rodriguez tautly directs a fine cast that performs against scenic designer Dan Jenkins’ wafflelike cutouts of high-rises. Furious Theatre Company at PASADENA PLAYHOUSE’S CARRIE HAMILTON THEATRE, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7:30 p.m.; thru May 12. (800) 595-4849. (Steven Mikulan) See Stage feature next week.

INFINITE BLACK SUITCASE If Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood is a tender, sprawling soap opera about village life, then E.M. Lewis’ new play is much the same (minus the lyricism) about village death. Sixteen characters face The End within a single day in rural Oregon. A pair of brothers (Line Hand and Ken Arquelio) grapple with the daunting aftermath of a relative who blew his brains out, and with their sister (Marina Mouhibian), who’s now borderline comatose after having witnessed the suicide. A man (Jerry Pappas) tries to comfort his AIDS-ridden lover (Eric Bunton) in a couple scenes dripping in bathos. There’s the nuanced hostility between a woman’s second husband (Kim Estes) and her ex (Ryan Churchill) when it’s clear the woman (Darcy Halsey) is dying from cancer. The play’s investigation of mortality is earnest and provides a great actors’ workout by performers who relish the material. The TV realism is a drawback, a style that demands characters make decisions; instead of making decisions, too many characters try to float on their tragic contexts, being about reactions rather than actions. This makes a 90-minute evening of scenes feel longer and more maudlin than it otherwise might. A couple of scenes fly because their people are making choices that speak more about their life than their afterlife: A chipper, elderly couple (Dawn Merkel and Rich Williams) choose a burial plot, while the man is torn between lying in eternity next to his current wife or his late one; and there’s a gentle post-bar liaison at the home of a young widow (Tammy Kaitz) still unable to let down her guard with a sensitive man (Churchill), who we met earlier and whose ex-wife has cancer. Danny Parker-Lopes directs. TheSpyAnts at THE LILLIAN THEATRE, 10765 Lillian Way, Hlywd.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; thru May 6. (323) 860-8786. (Steven Leigh Morris)

(Photo by Robert W. Arbogast)

(Photo by Anthony Masters)

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ROMEO AND JULIET Director Michael Murray’s wonderfully accessible staging of Shakespeare’s star-crossed classic nabs our attention from the outset, drawing on the gifts of several accomplished veteran performers to sustain a lively and engaging production. The show’s appeal commences with the initial rumble between the Montague and Capulet clans in 1930s Italy, where the action is set. (It’s the first illustration of Ken Merckx’s snappy fight choreography that animates the play.) Steve Coombs’ Romeo is an earnest youth, while his Juliet (Joy Osmanski) exudes a guileless contemporary charm that reminds one of the unspoiled teenager next door. (Yes, they do still exist.) Although perfectly adequate in their delivery, neither of the principal performers captures the full measure of Shakespeare’s poetry; still, their naturalness — Osmanski in particular — captures our immediate empathy and keeps us rooting for their love to the end. The real scene stealers are J. Todd Adams, whose Mercutio flits brilliantly across the stage, like an incendiary iconoclast on speed, and Deborah Strang, whose limelight-grabbing Nurse is an antic woman with an ample heart. Also notable is Mark Bramhall as the well-meaning Friar Lawrence: His startled response, when a disconsolate Romeo threatens suicide following his banishment, illuminates with humor and precision the generational disparities at the heart of the tragedy. A NOISE WITHIN, 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale; schedule varies, call for info; thru May 25. (818) 240-0910. (Deborah Klugman)

SEX & IMAGINING With a nod to Strindberg and Dürrenmatt, J.P. Allen’s one-act is an entertaining but disquieting tale that explores the sexual pyrotechnics between genders. The two-character play opens harmlessly enough with a woman (Yvonne Fisher) motoring along on a dark road before stopping to give a stranded male traveler (Adam Bitterman) a ride. She claims to be en route to a house party, but when they arrive, the place is as quiet as a tomb (Jeff Rack’s sparse set design is appropriately creepy). It isn’t long before this puzzling, innocuous scenario turns risqué — and violent. These developments are only the beginning, however, and gradually it becomes obvious that the two share a disturbing history and that their relationship is infinitely more complex and dark than it first appears. Allen’s engaging script is filled with subtle ambiguities and unexpected turns, and its elegant yet mystifying finale puts one in mind of vintage Hitchcock. Fisher and Bitterman turn in fine performances that are excellent under Michael Franco’s skilled direction. SACRED FOOLS THEATER COMPANY, 660 Heliotrope Ave., L.A.; Wed.-Thurs., 8 p.m.; thru May 3. (310) 281-8337. (Lovell Estell III)