Theater Reviews: In a Garden, Through the Night, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Also, Playing Jordan Goldman, The Diviners and more

Comments (0) By L.A. Weekly Theater Critics Thursday, Mar 25 2010

...continued from page 2

PHOTO BY JOHN GANUN

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

More About

PLAYING JORDAN GOLDMAN David and Andy Neiman's Jewish comedy revisits the all-too-familiar terrain of religion as racket. Flat-broke, jobless and tossed out of the apartment he shared with his girlfriend, Sarah (Alexandra Ozeri), Jordan (David Neiman) hits upon the idea of swindling money from the Jewish community by staging his own Bar Mitzvah. The idea appalls his sister Emily (Lynn Freedman), an orthodox Jew, but is fully supported by Jordan's gay friend, Matthew (Joseph George Makdisi), whose racy quips and humorous in-your-face antics provide laughs but not nearly enough to offset the script's torpor. Jordan's plan gains currency with the help of some enthusiastic corporate backers (Andy Neiman and Paul Strolli), and the sham event is even marked for television, but Jordan is eventually confronted with pangs of conscience over his ethical failings, which prompt an epiphany of sorts. In addition to the wobbly premise and bland script, the mediocre acting, and director Cynthia Levin's directorial malaise, there are far too many scene changes, which are handled with the refinement of a rugby scrum. Theatre/Theater, 5041 Pico Blvd.; L.A.; Thurs.-Fri., 8 p.m.; thru April 23. brownpapertickets.com/event/100406, (800) 838-3006. A Silver Lining Film Group production. (Lovell Estell III)

THROUGH THE NIGHT Two motifs dominate in writer/solo performer Daniel Beaty's somewhat schematic "soul aria" — the soapbox and concentric circles. They form the literal design elements of Alexander V. Nichols' tastefully austere, wood-slat set (Nichols is also credited with lights and some superfluous projections). But, more importantly, they turn up in the swirling interconnectedness of Beaty's urban portrait gallery and in the sometimes preachy, uplifting tale he contrives to dramatize the spheres of support upon which his mainly male, African-American protagonists rely to get them through the crisis-filled, long night of life in a ghetto housing project. The common center of those circles is Eric, the young, gifted son of Mr. Rogers, a spokesman for black self-empowerment and owner of a failing neighborhood health-food store. The unusually sensitive child puts his ingenuity to use by obsessively mixing potions in the back of his father's shop to cure the very adult problems afflicting the souls of his troubled neighbors. These include Bishop Alfred, the community's overweight spiritual leader struggling with a secret junk-food addiction; Isaac, his closeted, 40-year-old, businessman son; Antwoine, the teen Isaac has mentored through high school and acceptance to college; and Dre, an HIV-infected ex-con who worries about the health prospects for his unborn son. Although crisply directed by Charles Randolph-Wright and buoyed by Beaty's engaging, Gospel-inflected performance, the show is beset by too many thinly generic characterizations and moments of unearned sentimentality to allow its inspirational message to soar. Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Wstwd.; Tues.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 3 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 & 7 p.m.; through April 4. (310) 208-5454. (Bill Raden)