[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of Loft Ensemble’s The Impact of Dildos on a Funeral written by Emma J. Latimer and directed by Natasha Renae Potts and Madylin Sweeten Durrie.
Upstairs at Loft Ensemble is their Sawyer Theatre. It always feels a little like a treehouse, as you climb the stairs and snuggle into your seat. It’s small and charming, although the stage itself is plenty big enough to show off their enormously creative spirit!
Their latest creation is The Impact of Dildos on a Funeral. A brilliant reminder that friendships can and should be forever.
Chosen family can be a reason for all the good in our life, and all the complicated. But it does also make for great entertainment when the story is as good as this one, the characters as vivid and the actors as gifted. And yes, there are dildos.
The Impact of Dildos on a Funeral is all about, as you might imagine, a funeral. A group of friends is meeting up at a funeral home for the open-casket memorial of their dear friend. We discover as the story unfolds that she did in fact kill herself, although the reason is never really identified. But, in the end, the point of the play is not to discover that at all. It’s to remind them all, and us, that what is important is the small stuff. The birthday dinners, the phone calls, the commitment to keeping in touch. It’s the forgiveness, understanding, the celebration of all our weirdness and those we love who know all about our flaws and love us anyway…or maybe even because of them.
These characters are wonderfully real and very compelling. The relationships we are drawn into are authentic and touching, the issues between them totally relatable and beautifully written.
There is some drama, and more than a little spookiness, flashing lights, unexplained locking of doors etc. Perhaps the deceased is intervening a little, or perhaps it can all be explained away. But again, not the point. We are all here in this little theatre, the characters in their play, to figure something out. Some long-ago slighting, some forgotten loyalty, some nagging jealousy or irritating memory that gets in the way of who really are to each other. Our brains lie to us all the time about what is really important and who is the center of our world. It makes a big deal over unimportant details. It obsesses over the ridiculous and the unnecessary, all the while preventing us from living our lives in peace.
The Impact of Dildos on a Funeral is a very funny and also deeply moving play revolving around a group of friends who just can’t seem to get passed walls they hardly remember building. It is a Gen Z Big Chill. A Scream without the bloodshed. A Night of the Living Dead without Zombies and toxic rain.
All these people really needed to be locked in a room together, and although not everything is resolved, progress is made, and if the final point their dead friend wanted to make was…”don’t screw this up.” I think they all got it.
Tickets:
Where:
11031 Camarillo St, NoHo Arts District, CA 91602
When:
July 11 – August 3
Friday & Saturday at 8pm
The Impact of Dildos on a Funeral Cast
The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Xanxan Beneche, Isabella Costa, Matt Lorenzo, Sean Alan Mazur, Ignacio Navarro, Mitch Rosander, Rosie Ryden, and Esteban Vasquez.
The Team
Scenic design is by Madylin Sweeten Durrie, lighting design is by Sarah Nilsen, costume design is by Bridget Avildsen, sound design is by Emma J. Latimer, and props design is by Natasha Renae Potts. Fight choreographer is Marc Leclerc. Rehearsal stage manager is Andrea Casamitjana and production stage manager is Silas Jean-Rox. Graphic design is by Madylin Sweeten Durrie and website design is by Amanda Chambers. Production manager is Sarah Nilsen, and producer is Bree Pavey.
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