Kill Me (review)

Spoilers ahoy!

Kill Me as an original play premiered at the Wildclaw Theatre in Chicago. I mention this because when first learning the Visceral Company here in Los Angeles would produce one of their shows, my reaction was excitement! Alas, have never seen Wildclaw. Only read about them. And longed to see one of their productions!

So what is Kill Me all about? Depends. On the most basic level one can say it tells of Cam (Natasha Charles Parker), a troubled young woman who clearly inspires powerful emotions in others. Her lover Grace (Jonica Patella) for all practical purposes fell into Cam's eyes and in a real sense never crawled out. This idea will creep you out while watching the play. I'm just warning you. Likewise Cam's sister Wendy (Angela Stern) continues to feel a shadow or echo across her life, even after years of no contact.

Cam recovers from a short-term coma--one precisely seven days in length from the minute of a car accident to her eyes opening. To the minute. Odd.

Wait.

She claims to have gone...somewhere. Hell maybe. To have somehow encountered bizarre beings, being that altered her in totally unexpected--and surprisingly horrific--way. Cam insists she cannot now die. This notion fills her with horror. Some might find this puzzling. I do not. But if you do, the play spells it out for you. Watching every single person or thing you love decay and vanish over and over over again--such make for the stuff of nightmares. And that is only the beginning.

But is this true? True in the same sense that the 101 Highway is a factual thing? Something we all perceive and therefore agree exists? Or is it true only in terms of what Cam herself believes? Then again, perhaps it is both. Her trauma might just have given her the ability to see what others cannot, which she interprets in her own way, right or wrong (or both). The monsters that haunt and tease and threaten her--we the audience see them. See how they might just be influencing Grace and Wendy (may I add my love of these character names?). And if they are real, what are they, really? Hallucinations given form, the native monsters of the darkest shadows of our minds, eternal horrors that predate time and shall outlive reality--take your pick!

Said monsters have a name in the program, dubbed the Miseries: (right, clockwise) Yanna Fabian is Paranoia, Lamont Webb Angst, Karen Nicole Dread,  and Alexander Price Despair.

As you has hopefully perceived by now (and if the title weren't enough of a clue), Kill Me is a horror story. Written by Scott T. Barsotti, it uses the same fundamental horror that informs such classics as The Haunting or the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Recall that the Robert Wise film, unlike the remake, followed Shirley Jackson in refusing to "explain" what was happening. Just as we never ever really find out what is up with that Raven--whether or not it is even real. Poor Cam perceives a horror that might crack a stronger will than hers. Whether that horror has any origin other than personal issues and a string of seemingly inexplicable coincidences--does it really matter? She feels an abyss yawn within her. We feel it with her. Likewise, whatever the "objective" facts can one doubt that the two women in her life experience a horror of their own? At the very least this girl they love descends into schizophrenia. Part of  what makes this a horror story is that we hope that's all it is! Because we can be no more sure than they are--which ends up the metaphysical equivalent of nails on a chalkboard.

Cam is the central role and Parker captures well her desperation. Not only in the face of what seems happening to her, but the reaction of those around her. She tries to find the words, not to explain, but to convince, and so loses her way with every breath.

Patella has in effect a harder part, simply because her character switches back and forth in time rather more often. Tricky. Made trickier because I'm not quite sure to whom she and Stern are talking. They have the unenviable task of spending much of the play's start talking to the audience rather than another actor. Very tricky. For that reason, the emotional involvement between ourselves and the cast takes longer than any of us would like. However, it gets there. And by the end, we're cringing. Not from any surgery acted out on stage or some revelation of personal darkness. No, this is Grand Guignol of the soul, of the perceptive mind, and we feel a little tug of the metaphysical hook in our own psyches.

The Miseries very nearly are dance performances rather than acting, but that does them insufficient credit. All four command the stage when they appear, leaving fascination and revulsion in their wake. Not at all an easy thing to do!

Kill Me plays at the Visceral Company's new permanent digs, the Lex Theatre 6760 Lexington Avenue, Hollywood, 90038, at Lexington and Highland (a little north of Santa Monica Boulevard), Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm with Sunday matinees at 3pm. The final performance should be June 2, 2013. Highly recommended for adults who enjoy a disturbing, moving piece of theater than invades your awareness.

How I Would Do DR.WHO

Okay, this is about Doctor Who, a cult t.v. show I initially encountered way, way back in the 1980s with Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor (we are now on Matt Smith as the Eleventh!).

In recent episodes, many fans seem dissatisfied with the show. Anyone reading this who isn't a fan will probably find what follows baffling. Especially since explaining would take way too much time. Pardon the pun. So I'm not going to.

As a fan, and a somewhat dissatisfied one, here I offer my suggestions of what might recapture the "magic." This isn't about Clara, however. I've no problem at all with the character or the story arc involving her on the show. These suggestions are for the show regarding the next Companion, maybe even the next Doctor!

First and foremost, I'd like to see a Companion who is not a pretty young girl! Contrary to popular belief, this would not in fact be a brand new development. I wouldn't mind an alien, a male, or simply someone older rather than in their twenties. I even offer a model of how such a chemistry might work--on another BBC show no less! Of course I mean the modern retelling of Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective, Sherlock. Not that I believe the almost-but-not-quite-homoerotic dynamic is needed, anymore than Sherlock and the Doctor are that close in weirdness or personality. But that model, re-imagined much as it is every time we see a new version of Sherlock Holmes, that would be something to explore and use in a fresh way! For example, an adult male with plenty of real world experience that comes in handy, shoring up the Doctor's weaknesses. Lord knows the Doctor can be extremely undiplomatic, whereas someone who handles such things extremely well might prove quite useful in terms of story. Also, this Watson-eque Companion could have his own story, his own secrets and issues in a way Rose and Amy never did.

Another thing to develop would be an antagonist. Frankly it might very well be The Master, as far as I'm concerned. He could well have survived what happened at the end of "The End of Time" (stranger things have happened, after all) and a new regeneration could give him quite the lease on life, a new face and a new agenda. In particular what about a version of the Master who's decided to woo the Tardis away from the Doctor? Lately the Tardis has come across increasingly as a subtle character in the show. Use that! Imagine the Master's convoluted plan to drive a wedge between the Doctor and the Tardis, to offer himself as in fact a better Time Lord with  which to travel, especially since this Master would be a new person in many ways!

I'll do a step further. Since we know Time Lords can regenerate into a different gender, why not cast a woman as the Master? The Corsair, we're told in "The Doctor's Wife," was sometimes a woman. I'll even make a casting suggestion. Someone will all the sleek elegance of a panther, who can convey a mind brilliant as that of a thousand-year-old alien, one of the great geniuses from a billion-year-old civilization. Yet can also appear surprisingly vulnerable. In this case I refer to Jaime Murray, late of Dexter and The Mystery of the Blue Train as well as Spartacus, Warehouse 13 and Defiance. The possibilities here really boggle the mind. Suppose The Mistress (to coin a pseudonym) laid traps for the Doctor, including somewhere the two of them share a past. Wouldn't we all love a hint of that! And if our Watson-Companion developed some feelings for this strange woman he encounters now and again?

Frankly I think The Mistress might provide a wonderful chance to see how a Time Lord sans all that vast technology might find a way to do things. A quick trip back in time? Find a Weeping Angel. Need to leave a message of sorts on an alien world? Send a carefully targeting message through a wormhole into a planet's past to set up a religion. And so on.

These of course are details, like the desire for a vaguely steampunk design to the Tardis control room.  More fundamentally, I'd want to see a few other tendencies brought to the forefront. One problem with this show is that it has gone on so long with so many stories, how can  you do something new? Well, in one sense you cannot, but that remains a problem with all story-telling in general. In effect Twilight as well as Romeo and Juliet and Jane Eyre are just re-tellings of Pyramus and Thisbe. Keeping things fresh and interesting depends on other things than pure, unadulterated originality. This such as...

• Every set-up needs an equally powerful denoument. Frankly this is the eternal problem with some episodes such as "Lets Kill Hitler." I would argue that really great set-ups probably need a climax spread over multiple episodes. Probably.
• Integrate guest characters with the regulars. Better than nine times out of ten, when this isn't done the stories don't work. "Blink" handled with as lightly as one can imagine. "Journey To The Center of The Tardis" frankly did not. The result was a weaker (although by no means bad) episode.
• Return to clarity. This can be really really subtle, but given just how confused some watchers have gotten, I think it needs stressing. Honestly, that includes me. I still don't know who was behind events in "The Big Bang" or why. And I'm very bright! Not that I don't love me some mystery and some open-endedness! I do! But lately I've been getting right confused along with everybody else. Overload might well be why the mystery of Clara simply isn't interesting me as much as that of River Song or John Saxon.
• Humor as a light in darkness. One reason my favorite Doctor remains Seven (Sylvester McCoy) is how very clown-like he often seemed, yet increasingly we saw that as a mask for an ancient wanderer full of horrible secrets and dreadful decisions. As with many things, 'tis a tricky balance to achieve. But Dr.Who requires that, with general use (I emphasize general as opposed to universal) of the following dynamic: The Doctor meets some folks who are treating something very, very seriously. He seems to grin and make light of everything, while revealing things are many times more serious than those folks ever dreamed. This need not be present for a good story. Look at "Amy's Choice" for example. But as a strong tendency this remains important.

For what it's worth, that is my opinion. 

Grimm NIghts Vol.1 (review)

Spoilers ahoy!

Zombie Joe's Underground theater often creates different "series" of theater events, the most famous of which is probably Urban Death. The latest, playing until May 5, 2013, uses Grimm's Fairy Tales as their inspiration. The idea, wickedly and wonderfully simple, centers around re-telling famous stories but in the modern Hollywood.

Herein lies many seasons of possible shows, dependent upon what folks there create from the original.  This time the stories involved include "Little Red Riding Hood" "Hansel and Gretl" "Willfull Child" as well as "Death's Messengers" and "The Devil and His Grandmother." Both quality and style vary quite a bit, but even at their least good (none of the tiny plays qualify as bad or mediocre or even average) all entertain. More, each gets one thinking one way or another.

Photo Credit: Jana Wimer

"Death's Messenger" probably makes for the most grim (heh heh) the vignettes, with its tale of someone meeting none other than Death Herself (yeah, in this case Death is a she), who turns out to be a not very nice person. Given her job, much less her nature, no surprise there! Arguably

the most hilarious must be "Hansel and Gretl" in which a pair of Aryan Twins manage to be as horrific as one might imagine on Hollywood Boulevard. Of course their mother steals the show. Just was well that one is chronologically the last. Too much hilarity to try and surpass, honestly.


The one most instantly recognizable must be "Little Red Riding Hood," in which wolf and Red as well as Grandmother (as well as the mysterious bag of goodies) get a very dark and modern twist.

Meanwhile "The Devil and His Grandmother" makes for nice little tragi-comedy. As with all the other playlets of this new showcase for Zombie Joe's take on the world, the acting veered between competent and enthralling. The script itself allowed actors and directors

Photo Credit: Jana Wimer

have a lot of fun--and, perhaps more importantly, to let us the audience join the party!

Honestly, though, much as I did enjoy Grimm Nights Volume 1 (and make no mistake--I enjoyed that evening very much) some part of my mind nagged and said they'll get better. No doubt! Practice very rarely doesn't improve things, after all, and the talent showcased here (and at other Zombie Joe performances) have proven themselves many times. But I found myself wishing they'd do fewer but longer playlets next time.

What I saw was good. It entertained, no small thing! Methinks we (the audience) all walked away very pleased with the time spent in that by-now-familiar black box. People laughed,

sometimes so long and so loud the actors had to pause for a moment or two! We gasped a few times. Once or twice we jumped in our seats. Zombie Joe's group truly understands how to make the grotesque work, how to make such ideas into welcome theatrical events. Kudos to the cast, the writers and the crew who pulled this off! Yet I honestly wished for more. Maybe that is me, being rather...well...greedy.

At the same time I'm really, really looking forward to Volume 2! Cannot tell you how much I long to see

Photo Credit: Jana Wimer

Vanessa Cate (or example) do "Little Briar Rose" aka "Sleeping Beauty." Or Adam Neubauer re-tell "Hans My Hedgehog" Samantha Levenshus create a new version of "Grandfather Death" or Sebastian Munoz make his own "The Boy Who Went in Search of Fear" as well as Matt DeNoto's take on "The Griffin." Mind you, these are only offered as possibilities. I want to whet the appetite of theater-goers as mine has been!


I'm not going to do a blow-by-blow of every single vignette. Such would take far too much time to read! And surprise is one of the delightful tools used for the show. Don't want to spoil that!

Basically, I'm recommending not only this specific show, but sharing the way it makes me anticipate even more Grimm Nights in the future. My hope is, enough of you will help make that possible by showing up!

Grimm Nights Volume 1 plays  Sundays at 7pm through May 5, 2013. The show is at Zombie Joe's, 4850 Lankershim Blvd. North Hollywood CA 91601. Reservations are at (818) 202-4120.

Our Class (Review)

Spoilers ahoy!

Our Class enjoyed its West Coast premiere last night.  This work, by Tadeusz Słobodzianek, translated by Ryan Craig, focuses on an event little known in the United States. In Poland, however, it hovers over living memory as the murder of JFK does here. The Jedwabne Pogrom happened in July 1941, the murder of hundreds of Jews in a small Polish town. Since this occurred following the conquest of Poland by Nazi Germany, one can understand the initial belief that SS units performed the deed.

Alas, no. They egged on the local Poles, who committed the slaughter. When it finally came to light, the Polish people went into shock and reacted as we Americans often do to the dark deeds of our own history--the lynchings, the murder of Civil Rights workers, the burning of churches with children inside, the white juries that refused to convict those responsible. They (and we) felt horror, guilt, denial, resentment, fascination. All the colors of our common emotional rainbow.

Our Class deals with ten people--five Jewish, five Catholic. We meet them as schoolchildren and in many ways they remain such. "Classmate" they call each other for decades to follow. Technically one of many amazing things about this production is how this cast conveys the range of ages--from childhood to old

age--without makeup.

Yet in many ways that remains their least impressive achievement.

This play delves into its ten characters not from a moralist's POV. Which doesn't mean the playwright had no moral view himself. Quite obviously he shares our own horror at cruelty and murder. But the Christians we meet don't look like cardboard cutout villains, no more than the Jews as pristine heroes. All feel pain, all make terrible mistakes, none comply to some uniform moral gradient. Dora (Sharyn Gabriel) has a shocking but terribly human reaction when her dear friend Rysiek (Gavin Peretti) commits a terrible act. Wladek (Alexander Wells) helps start the massacre, but then comes to his senses and helps save the Jewish girl he always liked Rachelka (Sarah Rosenberg). One would like to think this meant a happy life together, an unbreakable bond. Well, the bond remained. Not as good a thing as one might wish, but neither as bad as it might have been. "Life," as a favorite author of mine likes to say "resists simplicity." Our Class abounds with that very nuance which brings it to life. Even the most vile of the characters (probably Zygmunt played by Dan Via) seems pitiful in some way. Even the most innocent (maybe Abram as played by Michael Nehring) seems self-righteous or sometimes unpleasant. No two of them agree on how to see events, nor how best to respond.

Much of that lies in the script. Did some research and found some critics at its London premiere called this play a one-sided morality play. But honestly, there can be no doubt about the ethics of events! I can only Son of Semele Ensemble production (Semele's son was Dionysus, patron of Greek theatre).

assume that--perhaps--the cast of that production failed to match the performances in this

Tis one thing to realize that such nuances exist. Even monsters are human. Victims are very rarely saints. Surviving a horror, even helping make it less horrible, does not automatically equal happiness or wisdom. Evil and good deeds have complex consequences, and even more complex causes. The cast here had to do more than realize these, but bring them to life. They did so with such heart and skill I did what I very rarely do--stand when applauding at the end. As a tribute to what they'd achieved, not least with the finale. Shan't tell you what that entails, but although without any doubt an ending, it also left everything very very open. Responsibility for events and for what to with them in the future were given to those who can (and must) use them most.

Us.

Performances of Our Class are a little irregular but here is a schedule of them:
 Sunday, April 7 @ 3:00 PM
 Friday, April 12 @ 8:00 PM
 Saturday, April 13 @ 8:00 PM
Sunday, April 14 @ 3:00 PM
Monday, April 15 @ 7:00 PM
Friday, April 19 @ 8:00 PM

Saturday, April 20 @ 8:00 PM
Sunday, April 21 @ 3:00 PM
Each performance takes place at the Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90039