[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of THE WITNESS ROOM, written by award-winning playwright Pedro Antonio Garcia (Firehouse) and directed by award-winning director and Whitefire Theatre Artistic Director Bryan Rasmussen at The Whitefire Theatre from March 22 through April 27.
It’s no secret that I love the Whitefire Theatre and just about everyone in it and all they do. So to see a play directed by their very own Bryan Rasmussen, I felt sure would be icing on their Sherman Oaks cake. I was right, of course!
THE WITNESS ROOM is an excellent play, written by Pedro Antonio Garcia, the writer of another excellent play that premiered at the Whitefire Theatre, Firehouse. This time the action takes place in the witness room of a courthouse during a preliminary hearing for a case against a drug dealer. There are four arresting policemen, all called in to give evidence, all nervous and hyper and ready for a fight. And there is also the prosecuting attorney, as the only woman she has something to prove and a career to make and she needs none of them to complicate her plans.
The stakes are high for them all, it would only take one of the cops to give a conflicting account of the arrest for the whole thing to fall apart. But with so much testosterone flying around and a group of policemen with reputations for being less than honest, just about anything could happen.
The performances are dead on. Each actor bringing a nuanced truthful edge to this disparate gaggle of cops. Each with their own agenda, each ready to run at a moment’s notice, and some more criminal in nature than others.
To work in this world must require a certain level of vigilante, an ability to remain focused on the end goal, to survive as long as possible without burning out or taking everyone down with you. And although I am sure there are many many cops who are true to their calling, it’s a rough job and made rougher by those around them, cop and criminal alike. It’s like watching rats on a sinking ship…just brilliant.
I love police dramas, and judging by the ratings, and the sheer number of shows and movies made, I am hardly alone. Seeing this kind of high energy life and death drama in a theatre brings a whole other dimension to the intensity of the genre. You can feel the tension, see the sweat and watch them all fall apart in front of you, and the atmosphere is absolutely electric.
The audience is transported to a dark, stuffy room in a New York courthouse where deals are made, lines are crossed and we all become witnesses to how precarious a balancing act it is ‘to protect and serve.’
THE WITNESS ROOM is brilliant show but it is only running through April 27. So, I urge you to buy your tickets fast, I hear it’s selling out!Â
Tickets
https://www.whitefiretheatre.com/
The Cast
The electrifying cast stars Tricia Small (Salem) as the Prosecutor and Moe Irvin (Ahsoka: Star Wars), Dave Baez (Greenleaf, Dexter), Louie Liberti (ER) and Mitch Rosander (Two Broke Girls) as officers of the NYPD.
The Team
The talented production team boasts the talents of set designer Jeff Rack, lighting designer Derrick McDaniel, sound designer Mitch Rosander, costume designer Laura Tiefer, graphic designer Michele King, fight choreographer Bonzai Vitali and casting director Victoria Hoffman.