[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of two world premiere one-act plays, Someone Like Me by Richard Gustin and In Whose Eyes? by George Kappaz at the. Art of Acting Studio through October 27.
Richard Gustin and George Kappaz first met years ago in Detroit. They were both company members at the Hilberry Repertory Theatre at Wayne State University and, after 45 years, they are together again as friends, fellow actors and writers with their world premiere of their own two one-act plays.
Isn’t that a beautiful story? And we are all in desperate need of beauty and grace right now. These two plays, Someone Like Me and In Whose Eyes?, although very different in tone and in setting, are connected. Not just because these two men have known each other since college, or that they are both seasoned actors and writers with world premieres of their work. There is a certain sense of turning about these two plays. A becoming. A revelatory thread that runs through the stories and as they unfold a very real feeling in the audience that anything is possible.
Someone Like Me is a story of two people who meet in a coffee shop. The woman is distracted, she’s been there a while, possibly to escape an argument with her fiance. Her phone keeps twitching, but she doesn’t answer it. She is approached by an awkward stranger. A man. He asks her if she is single, apologetically since he is new in town. She tells him no, but she is nice enough to tolerate his embarrassed verbal meandering and they strike up a conversation. His angle, she should be with someone who appreciates her, someone like him. He adds doubts to her already doubting mind and it’s either very romantic or the best ‘sell’ ever. Either way, it’s a brilliantly written conversation full of nuance and funny and very realistic observations about love and partnership and expectations. The performances are also wonderful. Bianca Foscht as the woman is both resisting and flattered, she seems exhausted by her life, which I totally related to. How can anything be so hard that is supposed to be everything you have ever wanted? Marcus Wells plays the stranger and the performance is a cunning mix of stalker and sanity. If she wasn’t so vulnerable would he stand a chance? Is this fate or fatal…I’m still not sure. And his edginess works brilliantly because I think this sad woman felt it too.
In Whose Eyes? is as different a story as one could imagine. It revolves around the trial of a general…who’s already dead. He appears to be in the uniform of the Northern Army of the American Civil War. Although we have no sense that we are all still in that time. He has representation, a female lawyer, and the opposing counsel represents no client. Since this is the afterlife, the client appears to be truth and if he is found wanting by the jury, which is the audience, he will be sent to hell. The first witness is the general himself, but as a young man when he was still living in Italy and a part of the rebellion. He tells the story of his life, fleeing Italy when the French invaded at the pope’s insistence, and of his part in a failed plot to assassinate Napoleon. It’s a fascinating and compelling story, loosely based on actual events and absolutely riveting. The next witness is his wife, who he hasn’t seen for years since she passed before he did and I may have teared up a little. But his wife isn’t able to see him or talk to him as she has already moved on without him.
He was a man born into a particularly desperate time in our history. Wars were everywhere, countries invading other countries, millions died, many more led terrible poverty stricken lives with little hope of peace. A passage to America and all the hope this country provided was everything to him and everyone else who was poor and out of chances. But for a man with his background in the military, being a soldier seemed his only way forward. And so he fought on. In the Civil War, and then as an officer, captain and finally a general. Along the way, he killed many men and that is what he would be judged on in this courtroom on this day. War is war, but choices are still made, even in the midst of battle that often blur the lines between self defence, orders given and pure survival. Can a man define his destiny and choose grace over death if he was bred for battle? After the defense rests the judgment of the General was awarded to the audience. Innocent and he moves up, guilty and he moves down. I voted, as did we all and the verdict was made. I wonder how that might be different on any other performance, I know I was in the minority…so maybe. Either way, it was a highly effective dramatic device, and knowing from the outset that you have his future in your hands gave the audience a heavy sense of participation. With an election only weeks away, aren’t we all primed for our own verdicts?
These are electric performances, in both plays. Truly, the actors were phenomenal, the direction deft and subtle and the staging, particularly for the trial was excellent. It was a thoughtful and thought-provoking evening of plays and I cannot recommend it enough. The Art of Acting Studio is a lovely space with an interesting and beautiful selection of productions and the quality of acting is absolutely sublime. Bravo!!
Where:
Art of Acting Studio
1017 N Orange Dr, Los Angeles
When:
October 10-27
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 6:30pm.
Tickets:
https://www.onthestage.tickets/show/encompassing-creative-endeavors/663eafb4ebbb45059955c4e1
The Team
Directed by the playwright, the cast of Someone Like Me will feature (in alphabetical order) Bianca Foscht and Marcus Wells. Understudy is Angelika Giatras. Directed by Johnny Patrick Yoder, the cast of In Whose Eyes? will feature (in alphabetical order) Suzanne Ford, George Kappaz, Kirsta Peterson, Walter Rodriguez, William Salyers, and Elizabeth Ivy Southard.
Scenic design is by Oscar Garcia, lighting design is by Raymond Jones, assistant director is Kaylee Frazier, and stage manager is Mary Leveridge. Producer is Carra Yoder.