[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of THE ROAD THEATRE COMPANY’s production of Mercury, written by Steve Yockey (The Flight Attendant, Dead Boy Detectives) directed by Ann Hearn Tobolowsky, and running through March 2.
Do you believe that the planets in our solar system have an effect on our everyday existence? Honestly, lately, I’m open to any kind of explanation of the craziness all around us. The good people at The Road Theatre have their own take on 2024’s apocalyptic beginning and bring it full force in their latest play Mercury, giving us an excellent, if rather bloody start to the year.
One of the Road’s playwright darlings, Steve Yockey, always creates his own peculiar universes, twisting reality, elevating the shadows and entertaining us with deep dives into our worst impulses. His latest, Mercury, is more of his inventive dark imagination fiercely at work.
We are offered three stories, all played out on a spectacular rotating circular stage and as we flit between them, the characters within them boil and spiral and come apart in startling, hilarious and gruesome ways.
There’s a connection between each of them. A weird shop in Portland with potions and objects offering concrete solutions to the kind of everyday wrinkles and irritants that plague us all and a shopkeeper straight out of a Faustian nightmare, although cutely packaged. The customers who frequent this store however are unable to shrug off what most of us can and have to every day and are more than willing to resort to darker fixes with no thought to the consequences, just as long as their immediate needs are met.
But of course, there are always consequences to every misdeed and that is the delightful center around which all these stories spin. We’ve all had people in our lives that we wish would just go away, cease to be, vanish from the face of the earth. But, would we go so far as to make that happen? If it were as simple as a visit to the drugstore, or the grocery store? I’d like to think that most of us would hesitate, even if it were only at the door. But these folks are not capable of restraint or empathy and it’s because of this that we are treated to this thoroughly entertaining and visually stunning play.
The performances are wonderful, the direction sublime. Playing with characters so fraught with psychosis, littered with a chilling disregard for humanity, even their own must be fun.
They pout and parry their way through their lives, plotting and finagling to illicit goals. Easy to be camp and over the top then, but everyone is truly phenomenal, all rising to the call of crazy, without seeming forced or contrived. And that is hard to do I think given the weirdly wonderful material. They stay true to reality, even when it’s reformed and replaced with these terrible people and their despicable souls. I absolutely loved this show.
How brilliant to begin the new year with a play with such a timely message. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction…oh boy isn’t there! Mercury walks us right up to the line of reaction and beyond and it is so successful in this that I have for the last several days been busy googling for a store just like this one…I’ll let you know if I find it!
The Cast
The cast of MERCURY will feature Meeghan Holaway as “Pamela,” Andrea Flowers as “Heather,” Justin Lawrence Barnes as “Nick,” Danny Lee Gomez as “Brian,” Billy Baker as “Sam,” Gloria Ines as “Alicia,” and Christina Carlisi as “Olive.”
The Team
The Design Team for MERCURY is as follows: Scenic Design by Katrina Coulourides; Lighting Design by Derrick McDaniel; Sound Design by David B. Marling; Projection Design by Ben Rock; Costume Design by Jenna Bergstraesser. The Production Stage Manager is Maurie Gonzalez. MERCURY is produced by Taylor Gilbert and Danna Hyams.
Tickets:
https://ci.ovationtix.com/35065/production/1177882?performanceId=11373078
When:
Extended through March 2
Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 2pm.
Where:
The Road Theatre
10747 Magnolia Blvd. North Hollywood, CA 91601