Isaiah Frazilus, Crystal Yvonne Jackson (Photo by Gary M. Kluger)
Reviewed by G. Bruce Smith
Theatre West
Through May 3
RECOMMENDED
Isaiah Frazilus and Monty Renfrow (Photo by Gary M. Kluger)
Twisted, Chris DiGiovanni ‘s riveting play, poses intriguing questions: why a cold-blooded murderer commits heinous crimes, how ambition can clash with family loyalty, and whether acts of omission are as bad as those of commission.
The play — which is having its world premiere at Theatre West and comes out of its Writers in Residence program — has so many twists and turns (forgive the pun) that it is tempting to describe the plot sketchily so as not to give away the many revelations that emerge throughout the action. But while there will be no major spoiler alerts here, it’s important to set up the narrative.
Scilla Claroe (Crystal Yvonne Jackson) has made a comfortable living as a successful true crime writer. Her son Jason (Isaiah Frazilus) is a bright young Ph.D. student at a nearby university who feels his mother has exercised too much control over him.
Scilla is going to write a book about Renton (Monty Renfrow), a Death Row prisoner who was convicted for killing several people in a mass shooting. But as we follow all three of the characters, we discover that Jason and Renton had a connection that Scilla is unaware of.
That leads to a conflict between Scilla and Jason. Scilla’s reason for writing the book (she says) is to understand Renton’s motives so that another such shooting might be prevented. Jason, however, is desperate to move on from what was a traumatic event – and, we learn later – to stop his mother from learning more about his relationship with Renton.
Meanwhile, Renton – an intelligent and manipulative man who is also a master at chess — is keen to have his story told, presumably to lay claim to some degree of immortality before his impending execution.
What makes Twisted so compelling are the tension-filled scenes between Scilla and Renton. She digs and Renton parries, revealing even more about her son than she did before. Renton is a fascinating character — both as crafted by the playwright and as brilliantly realized by the actor, in much the same way as charismatic villains like Richard III are. What makes Renton even more intriguing is his strong Southern accent (he’s from Alabama), which plays right into negative stereotypes about the intelligence of a Southerner.
Also absorbing are the scenes between a mother whose ambition to write the book overpowers empathy for her son, and Jason, who desperately wants Scilla to drop the project. We wonder how a woman can be so cold to her child, and if she is capable of change. While initially Jackson’s Scilla seems stiff, we soon see that the actor is capturing her character’s basic nature. And Frazilus turns in a solid performance as Jason, though he emotes perhaps a bit much.
While DiGiovanni might want to make a couple of tweaks to her script, Theatre West deserves praise for its commitment to the Writers in Residence project, which brings four original plays to the stage each year. If the others are anything like Twisted, the company can be especially proud.
Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. W., LA; Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 3 pm; thru May 3. www.theatrewest.org. Running time: Two hours, including an intermission.
å
