“The Arsonist of Venice”

A NoHo Arts theatre review of “The Arsonist of Venice,” written by Blake Shields at the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2023.
A NoHo Arts theatre review of “The Arsonist of Venice,” written by Blake Shields at the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2023.

[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of “The Arsonist of Venice,” written by Blake Shields at the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2023.

“The Arsonist of Venice” is a three-person play about the homecoming of an arsonist, writer and adopted son.  Waiting for him is his girlfriend and his brother who have never met before. And he keeps them both waiting, perhaps so they can get to know each other or perhaps to torture them a bit. Either way, the suspense of his impending arrival clearly rattles them both, although not, as it turns out, for the reasons we might expect.

A NoHo Arts theatre review of “The Arsonist of Venice,” written by Blake Shields at the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2023.

The arsonist is far more complex than the name might imply. A published author, a hero of the left, an icon of sorts. His incarceration only deepening his popularity in the fringes of society. But that is not the subject of the play.  Relationships all come with conditions, whether we like it or even admit to it. This man and his girlfriend, who chose not to come to see him once during his sentence, have the kind of deep understanding that few can hope to find in another. They see the limits that each of them have and accept them.  They are both a little wilder than most. A little more extreme and they recognise in each other a way to be their true selves. That’s great of course, but it’s also fraught with its own problems. How far is too far etc.? And the brother, or rather the son of the adoptive parents who took a teenage boy with a troubled mind in when no one would and who then called him ‘brother,’ well he can only see the man he hoped for – the brother, the only family he has left.  He won’t ever see past his own narrow view of what it means to be human.

It’s a complex play. Full of shadows and nuance. The characters staying at arms length, even the lovers.  Even when they embrace, you can feel the distance. The defensive, wiry edges to them.  So what is it about? I think it’s about trying to change someone. Trying to fit a person in to our life exactly the way we want them to fit and finally finding out that you can’t. However much you try, or scream, or beg. It’s impossible for people to be less than they are… and some people are a lot.  But all this is said in layered ways. In ways that only people who have been to hell and back together can know how to do.  

A NoHo Arts theatre review of “The Arsonist of Venice,” written by Blake Shields at the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2023.

The performances are wonderful. Real and brittle and full of pain and love. Family then. And the writing by Blake Shields is exactly right for this moment. For the Hollywood Fringe Festival, for these characters, for these actors, and for our place in time. It’s deftly directed by Michael Shaw Fisher. So much insanity and so many of us trying to make sense of everything. Sometimes what makes sense to us can never make sense to even the person standing with us. Does that make them any less important? Maybe that’s the dilemma of our age. 

“The Arsonist of Venice” is a beautifully written and wonderfully performed piece of theatre. For frequent Fringe goers it’s a lovely balance to the solo shows and the laughter and zaniness of so much of Fringe and well worth your time.  I loved it!

Read the NoHo Arts interview>>

Cast and Team

Blake Shields, Darby Gaelle Hannon, Bernard C. Bayer.

Directed by Michael Shaw Fisher.

Where:

The Broadwater (Second Stage), 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90038

When:

Saturday, June 17 at 11:00 PM
Monday, June 19 at 7:00 PM
Friday, June 23 at 5:00 PM
Friday, June 23 at 5:00 PM (virtual performance)

Tickets:

https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/9886?tab=tickets