More to the point, with Arnie and his tawdry cohorts explaining via audience address what they're thinking and what they plan to do next, the ricochet effect of French farce starts to implode.
If a play is going to traffic in cartoons, as this one does, they really need to keep bouncing off the walls — so fast that we miss the various improbabilities. Breaking the fourth wall allows for a kind of winking humor. Yet those same intrusive reflections by various narrators allow us time to consider the play's shortcomings.
PHOTO BY ED KRIEGER
Brynn Thayer, left, Bobby Costanzo and Michael Caldwell
Location Info
6201 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90038-1703
Category: Theaters
Region: Hollywood
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Playwright-performer Jay Jacobson creates a trio of characters in his very reflective solo show, Mental Creatures, at the Lounge in Hollywood, directed by Randy Brenner. Imagine John Leguizamo in slow motion, ruminating on the purpose of artistic ambition, on success, on opportunities that slipped away, on aging. Jacobson is a gentle bear of an actor, impersonating a painter who's now rolling into his 30s, still struggling to land a show in a gallery. He's feeling life and its possibilities slipping away.
He also portrays a former Jewish ballerina, now 59, who holds the memory of one performance at Lincoln Center as the crux of her identity. She gave it up for a husband who died prematurely, so now she lives alone in a condo, pressured by a friend to date. Scenes of her blind dates, in which Jacobson portrays all parties, are among the highlights of this tender show.
Finally, there's a retiree, a widower, cradling memories of his late wife and his late life, leaving his home, dispensing of mementos and relics in order to live in a care facility and be visited by his son maybe once a week.
Throughout, Jacobson sweetly sings his own songs to recorded accompaniment. The titles give you a sense of the show's tone: "Human Nature," "This Is Life."
The beautifully rendered characters give away too much, overstating the obvious so that pathos slips a notch into lugubriousness.
Yet a line such as "Neurosis is a substitute for real suffering" brings home the realization that Jacobson knows a thing or two, and that the sadness blanketing his performance is born of integrity.
MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION | By Peter Lefcourt | Presented by Theatre Planners at the Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., W.L.A. | Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; through Aug. 26. | (323) 960-5772 | plays411.com
MENTAL CREATURES | Written and performed by Jay Jacobson | Lounge Theatre, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd., Hlywd. | Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; through Aug. 18 | (323) 960-7738 | plays411.com
