Regular followers of this blog will know how much I admire City Garage as one of the best theatre companies in the greater Los Angeles are (technically the company's home lies in Santa Monica). I have never felt disappointed even by the least impressive pieces performed here
That has not changed.
Border Crisis is, as stated on the poster, an absurdist comedy by Charles A. Duncombe based on The House on the Border by Polish writer Stawomir Mrozek. As per usual it remains very topical, especially portraying an increasingly authoritarian situation which overwhelms a seemingly very ordinary family, literally turning their home into a multizone militarized area, with armed guards demanding paperwork for leaving or entering pretty much any room, or part of a room.
At its best, this polemic works very well. The Father (Bo Roberts) and The Mother (Martha Duncan) oversee a rebellious Son (Justin Parrish) and mediaphile Daugher (Hilary Kang Oglesby) while a grumpy Grandfather (Andy Kallock) and kindly optimistic Grandmother (Geraldine Fuentes) comment about goings on. Things seem normal enough. The Father celebrates how the whole family is together, and how they'll all be fine as long as they don't get involved in anything. At all. Ever.
Everything changes--as of course it must--as the government Representatives arrive, first demanding the use of this house for unspecific but wildly important negotiations. Once completed, the Leader (offstage) gives a rousing speech to a large crowd outside, rambling about the evil of outsiders, followed by the arrival of Guards who explain there are New Rules--but not much about what these rules might be. The Grandmother is almost immediately dragged off, since she is an alien--the numbers on her arm from last time prove it. No reprieve. She ends up in a some sweltering camp, with no idea as to her location. Soon food becomes increasingly scarce. The Son and Daughter manage to escape. He eventually ends up joining a government-sponsored militia whose job it is to beat up and harass whoever looks as if they don't belong. She, the seemingly least likely one, actually does join the Resistance--a secret but utterly impotent group more concerned with their own factions than getting anything at all done. The Father and Mother try to simply endure, while Grandfather is literally dragged off for treason, being solemnly told rights and due process are not for criminals. In the end, as the married couple sit alone in what was once a nice home, they take comfort with each other--until the sound of warfare, tanks and soldiers, approach. The Mother realizes they are about to die, while the Father exults that the Leader's Golden Age is about to arrive!
All this good stuff. I should mention here all the government officials, from the almost cartoon "Diplomats" to the scary Agents in suits and sunglasses to the incompetent Guards are portrayed by the same two actors--Angela Beyer and Gifford Irvine. They steal every single moment they are on stage, not only because their characters represent genuine threats, but their own presences which gives them so much power. Both actors have shared scenes before many times at City Garage and it shows.
Herein lies my caveat. The Family ultimately don't elicit much sympathy. One feels bad for them, but one's heart does not break. Quite simply, they as the protagonists are not as interesting as the antagonists. While some might argue they aren't supposed to be extraordinary, my own view is the ordinary can be interesting, can and should feel very real, very individual, and should engage our emotions--especially as they begin to suffer. This barely happens. It does happen, and the ending in particular delivers a gut punch. But it feels abstract. The message comes through, vividly, but not as powerfully as it could.
Which is a nuance, because the whole point of this play is the Message. Which is indeed delivered, enough I actually flinched. Nor was I the only one in the audience to my certain knowledge.
And that nuance is my only real criticism, so bravo/brava to everyone including Director Frederique Michel.
Border Crisis plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 4pm until December 13, 2025 at the Bergamot T1 Space, 2525 Michigan Ave. Santa Monica, CA 90404
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