Carolina Rodriguez, Alexandra Lee and Michael Guarasci (Photo by Jeff Lorch)
Reviewed by F. Kathleen Foley
Rogue Machine
Through October 12
RECOMMENDED
Dramaturgically speaking, Tim Venable’s Adolescent Salvation, now in its world premiere at Rogue Machine, is a bit of a mess. That’s what makes it so fascinating.
Venable’s play, which is being produced in the same intimate space in which his Baby Foothad such a successful run, is as unpredictable and emotionally chaotic as the three teenage leads. Its truthfulness transcends any niggling irregularities in tone.
Bright, friendless Natasha (Carolina Rodriguez) has been roped into entertaining Taylor F (Alexandra Lee) at a sleepover arranged by her mother Victoria (Jenny Flack), who is out drinking with Taylor F’s mom. Accompanying Taylor F is her ebullient gay “bestie,” Taylor M (Michael Guarasci.). When Taylor M and Natasha start forging a friendship, jealous Taylor F goes into full mean girl mode, pressuring Natasha into stealing her mom’s tequila. After a few rounds of shots, the trio engage in a drunken game of “truth or dare,” confessionals that seems vaguely naughty and typically adolescent — until Natasha’s explosive disclosure changes the course of the evening.
That revelation comes relatively early in the play, but to say more would be a spoiler. Suffice to say that Venable’s play morphs from a serious examination of adolescent disaffection and dysfunction into an unexpected disaster of near-comical but no less dire proportions. However, Venable’s adolescent characters are so well-drawn and so achingly authentic that we accept the outlandishness of the plot and go along for the ride.
Always on a razor’s edge of pure fury, Taylor F vents her anger against “the patriarchy,” but her feminist diatribes stem from a deeper hurt. Although her staunch ally, Taylor M, is swept along in her wild wake, he’s actually a thoughtful and reasoning kid who dislikes unkindness and is uncomfortable with her treatment of Natasha, whom he likes. As for Natasha, she’s been so unmoored by her parents’ divorce and her mother Victoria’s descent into alcoholism that she is dangerously vulnerable. In search of adult stability and affection, Natasha has turned to her widowed high school English teacher and mentor, Mike McCaffery (Keith Stevenson, in a turn as bizarrely sympathetic as it is appalling).
Lighting and scenic designer Joel Daavid utilizes every crevice of the compact Henry Murray Stage, which he has ingeniously transformed into Natasha’s cozily claustrophobic bedroom, complete with a window that leads to the second-story roof and functions as a clever means of egress. The audience enters the theater through Natalie’s cluttered closet, and some audience members are so much in the thick of things that they must contort to keep clear of the action.
In a finely tuned staging, director Guillermo Cienfuegos elicits optimum performances from his cast, particularly his young performers, who ferret out the common core of humanity in their roles. Their stereotype-shattering characters, sad adolescents in search of a salvation that may forever elude them, go against all expectations. Bright, resourceful, touchingly loyal in the face of catastrophe, they command our attention and win our hearts.
Rogue Machine, 7657 Melrose Ave., L.A. Fri.-Mon., 8 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 5 p.m., thru Oct. 12. (No performances Mon. 8, 15 & 22.) https://roguemachinetheatre.org/ (855) 585-5185. 90 minutes with no intermission.
