Theater Reviews: The Bad Arm — Confessions of a Dodgy Irish Dancer, Alley Cat and Some Kind of Love Story

The Bad Arm — Confessions of a Dodgy Irish Dancer

Chris Covics

Fables Du Theatre

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More About

• ALLEY CAT Marnie Olson
• Wendy Gough
• Steven Leigh Morris
• Dennis Miles
• Caroline Marshall

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GO  SONA TERA ROMAN HESS Cuban-born playwright Dennis Miles has composed an elegy to lost love and distant battles, set — as he mentions in the program — somewhere in the world, sometime in the past. An old farmer marries a young girl, who ends up running off with the farmer’s even younger son. Miles doesn’t bother much with that part of the drama, instead beginning his play with the couple, pregnant and broke, returning to the embittered old farmer for help and forgiveness. Into this scenario, Miles drops a traveling circus troupe and the encroaching front line of a devilish war, thus spinning the action toward the kind of surrealism this playwright is known for, full of heightened language and stylized charm. Director Kiff Scholl’s production strives for — but falls shy of — matching that style entirely, making for a lopsided experience. Unspecific blocking and characterization muddy some of the more poetic moments, and though Greg Wall as the farmer and Kathleen Mary Carthy as his cat-crazy companion deliver some strong performances, the rest of the cast appear somewhat lost in this miasma. Davis Campbell’s set nails the fractured reality of the world, though actors at times self-consciously avoid smacking their heads into slanted rafters. And Becky Gradjeda’s sound design lends a haunting rhythm to the words. The Lounge Theater, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; through Sept. 21. (323)960-7864. (Luis Reyes)