The setting is a bar. Bunch of different folks sitting around drinking, playing darts, some flirting, some betting.
Except it is not really a bar. For one thing, the bartender Charlie (Grace Bahler) is too young. Way too young. Then, a man enters the bar. Nolan (Bryan Caldwell), a writer who immediately attracts the attention of all the Regulars. He orders a drink, cannot find his wallet, then is told here drinks are paid for with stories. Not lies. Not fiction. Stories about the one who ordered the drink.
Weird? Yes. But the truth emerges soon enough. The title is a clue--Weigh Station. Maybe you thought that was the name of the bar? It would be a good one, come to think on it. But...no.
Playwright Donnie Jarman (who is a friend of mine) created into this two act story a portrait of an Afterlife in the form of a bar. Everyone here--well, everyone but Charlie--is dead. Calculus Professor Sean (Jonaton Wyne) had a heart attack. Frankie and Emma (Sofia Gregory, Nina Rancel) were a couple who died in an accident. And so on.
Nolan of course does not believe this, not even when he finds the door to leave just leads him directly back here. Again and again and again. They all laugh, having done the same many times. A bunch of strangers with forever to drink and talk, mostly about themselves. Julie (Lyn Alicia Henderson) seems nice, welcoming Nolan and flirting full throttle. Chris (Anthony Lorenzo Garcia) obsesses over his girlfriend in life, whether she would have said 'yes' when and if he got up the courage to propose? Joe (Miguel Berlingereri) sympathizes but refuses to offer any firm opinions, not least because his own marriage crashed then burned.
Two things bind this entire show together, brought very much into sharp relief by director Marcus Nobreus.
First are these characters, their interplay and unrevealed secrets--all hinted at practically from page one.
Second is the situation itself. Because, what really is this place? Most presume it to be purgatory, because no one here seems horrible nor saintly. Plus--who or what is Charlie? The evidence, they say, seems to make sense. Nolan points out no it doesn't. And he is right.
Both threads collide in an entwined knot of fear, drunkenness, desperation, and maybe just tiredness. Even the secrets we don't want to reveal, cannot bear speak aloud even to ourselves--part of us wants to say them.
Here especially the skill of writer, director, and actors really emerges, and frankly blew my mind in a quiet supernova. Because as each character began to tell their secret, just before the reveal I guessed some aspect of what it was. Not because of formula or predictability--that would have become clear before intermission! No. Because for these characters, the surprise of each secret went hand in hand with the realization that Of Course, That Makes Perfect Sense even though one second earlier I would not have imagined the truth.
A surprise that makes perfect sense requires a lot of artistry. Almost more than the fine performances, the compelling story, the mysteries and questions building up in a way that frighten the characters and ourselves along with--THAT is a major reason for recommending this show.
Weigh Station has been extended, with a 8pm show on Saturday August 2 and 3pm on August 3 at The Blue Door, 9617 Venice Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232.
