loves and losses

Theatre Neo has been presenting a series of one act plays that explore the most universal and elusive emotion of all - Love.  Six authors have strung together a group of stories where the common thread is easily seen by the audience, but not as easily by the characters.  The emotions bounce patrons from madcap laughter to sober reflection to choking tears, all the while holding up mirrors where some can see themselves, others turn away in apprehension, and others reject the images altogether.   In short, the company is doing slice of life and some of it cuts deep at times.

We laugh at the woman at the bus stop who, out of the blue, tells a man, "Jesus loves you!", and we empathize with him for wanting to avoid any contact with her.   Until she talks some more.  When we see the pain she suffers because the one love in her life is now unable to function, things change a little.  Then we see the man's anguish.  He is trying to avoid it by running away from a presumed failed love.   The cynicism he exhibits is sharply contrasted by her simple understanding, and when she leaves in her bus to go back home, she takes a little of everyone with her.    "A Rose From Bayside" was written by Brian Christopher Williams, and wonderfully performed by Jim Ulmer and Rachel Winfree.  Mary McGuire directed.

In sharp contrast, "The Rental" was an absurdly funny premise that sends the mind shooting out in all directions when a man shows up at a woman's house, kisses her and announces that he is her birthday date.  She's never seen him, but he soon convinces her that her best girlfriend hired him to spend the next 16 hours being the perfect boyfriend that she has never had.  He will cook, vacuum, take her out to dinner and a Springsteen concert, and do whatever else will make her happy.   Too much to ask you say?  Sonya thought so too, but she starts to buy into it, yet soon realizes that this will lead nowhere.  Will her skeptical attitude keep her lonely again?  Bernie Van De Yacht is great as the rented boyfriend, complete with "canned" commercial pitches about his agency.  McKerrin Kelly  (too pretty not to have a boyfriend)  plays the part to the hilt.  Mark Levine wrote this one, and Loren E. Chadima directed.

Perhaps the one that really grabbed everyone by surprise was "The Birthday Song" by Stace McQueen.  Two women watch children play at a girl's birthday party and soon strike up a conversation where one starts complaining about her "bitch of a boss", but she doesn't know the boss happens to be the sister of the other woman.  Can you say, "OOPS?"  The complainer talks about how this party will spoil her little girl who will come home wanting all the presents the party girl received, while the other one is more spiritual in her thoughts, which she expounds between martinis.  One complains about children, the other about the order of the universe, and soon the complainer learns that the other woman has recently lost her seven year old daughter.  This is the kind of melodrama that can easily be overplayed and exploited, but director Mary McGuire kept the emotions and the dialog so well controlled, so low key and so underplayed that the message came across and banged everyone on the head like a sledge hammer.  Carolyn Hennesy gave a beautiful performance as the grieving mother and Jeanne Helleman was superb as the cynical woman who experiences an epiphany.

"Tea BreaK" is wildly profane, as two scruffy Welsh miners who definitely belong to the group we call "The Grotesque Populace", take a break from their job for conversation and a spot of tea.  Not much can be said for their conversational skills as the only time they seemed to be able to say words with more than six letters was to say a four letter word twice.  Yet, Dai, the brighter one seems to hit a sore nerve with Tom,  when he starts talking about how one of the foremen had been viciously beaten and left in a coma, and it turns out that Tom,  had "done the deed".  At first Dai believed he had done it was because he had been fired, but Tom tells him the real reason he beat the man.  His simple, bumbling description of the day he got fired and came home to hear his wife in the bedroom with another, and his feelings as he exacted the revenge he felt he deserved elevated gave insight of how a great loss can lead one to do the unthinkable.  Stuart McLean wrote this compelling tale, and Eric Mofford directed it with skilled discipline and care.  Scot Renfro played Dai and Stuart McLean was Tom.  Both men were remarkable incarnations of rough, uneducated miners.

For an unusual and dark change of pace, "The Usual" by Barbara Lindsay, gave a glimpse of a man who has just been diagnosed with a fatal illness and goes to his usual restaurant to order his usual meal out of habit.  He realizes that he has been in a rut, and attempts to make a change.  He tries to pick up the waitress, but she quickly lets him know that his righteous attitude and know-it-all behavior is not going to get him any sympathy.  Scott Cain has the attitude nailed, as he is obnoxious, arrogant and deeply frightened of the fate that will soon befall him.  Carol Ketay was the friendly but distant waitress that you usually see in your favorite diner.   Loren E. Chadima directed.

The closing play was more a romp than a drama, as it dealt with the residents of a retirement home, and particularly with "Emma of Sandusky", as Linde Gibb plays the title character who is a self-designated match maker for the residents of the home.   Her crotchety wheel-chaired father provides plenty of laughs, and the rest of the cast flows with the tide as they gossip, make alliances, break alliances and generally make a mess of the careful plans made by Emma who normally misses on most of her matchmaking.  Edwin Craig, Frank Farmer and Weston I. Nathanson are the male residents who either chase, ignore or avoid Roz Witt, Dorothy Sinclair and an unseen Ms Fairfax.  Egg nog is the blood that makes love flow in Alex Dremann's adaptation of the novel by Jane Austen.  Joe Ochman directed the large cast.

While six one-act plays may seem overwhelming in one evening, they go by so fast that you sort of hate to leave at the end.  This is definitely a worthwhile endeavour which you will enjoy, but better take notes as you won't know which one to talk about after the show.

The Hudson Theatre on Santa Monica Boulevard is staging the production which plays on Tuesday evenings.  Call (323) 769-5858 for information and reservations.

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