Mutineer Theatre Company has launched its inaugural presentation with a world premiere play by Keith Bridges.  In a previous interview with Artistic Director Jon Cohn (click here to read) he outlined a little bit of the vision and plans the new company hoped to achieve. What he did not say was that this first presentation would be a real challenge, not just for the actors, but especially the viewers.

Director Joe Banno takes the characters created by Bridges and makes them some of the most dysfunctional people ever seen on stage. One can describe the family portrayed in two short common words – “screwed up”.  Then you can add other adjectives to expand the meaning and you might come close to explaining this family’s behavior.

Taylor Coffman - Emily Morrison - Amber Hamilton

Taylor Coffman - Jon Cohn

None of these people seem to have any redeeming qualities, and it’s hard to like any of them.  It’s even hard to feel sympathy for the mother who babbles all sorts of marginally related mutterings whenever she’s partially lucid.  When the family communicates it’s by yelling – their sentences punctuated by four letter words and their reasoning motivated by their selfish need for redemption which they feel can be achieved only by trying to inflict as much damage and place blame on the others.  When they gather at the hospital waiting for the inevitable some truths come out.

Eventually Stan admits that when he was doing it with Carla “it just felt right at the time!”  His logic?  “I never forced her into anything”. Attorney Gloria Allred would have a field day with this man.

Now about the merits of the play.  Amber Hamilton as Susan and Taylor Coffman as Carla are exceptional as the daughters in search of a family.  Each in her own way embodies the psyche of the wronged daughter.  Both lie when they feel it’s necessary, both think they have the solution and each has moments where their character develops and attempts redemptive change.  The play closes with the audience never being sure if their attempts succeeded fully.

Christian Lebano gives Stan, the father, some unique warm moments where we see true contrition and paternal love.  Then the character takes a step backward, which makes his every previous assurance of family concern completely suspect.

Christian Lebano - Amber Hamilton

Mention must be made of the excellent sound design and music by James Richter which complements the entire production adding tension to the drama.  The multi-level set by Davis Campbell works in perfect synch to the story and the lighting by Matt Richter brings out the mood in the piece.

If you overlook some of the early dialog which is a bit stilted and you overlook the somewhat uneven ending which has scenes bouncing back and forth between the mother’s hospital room and the mother’s grave at the cemetery, the rest is a very powerful study of a crisis that has torn a family apart with no hope of repair.  While the author shows that each character shares a part of the blame, it also shows that each prefers to pass the responsibility to someone else in the family.  If you think about it, isn’t that a fairly accurate depiction of many family lives?

Mutineer has chosen to navigate a risky path with this dark premiere production, but the quality of their work serves notice that they will be a force to be reckoned with in the future. This production was exceptionally well presented and now we look forward their next effort. 

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Photos: Natalie Young

LIE WITH ME runs through April 5, 2009 at Art/Works Theatre located at 6569 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90038.  

Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 7 pm.