Mike Fleming, Nancy Lantis and Michelle McGregor (Photo by: James Hall)
Reviewed by Martín Hernández
Off-Book Theatre and Broken Leg Theatre at The Main
Through June 21
RECOMMENDED
Janice Crow Christensen, Nancy Lantis and Michelle McGregor (Photo by James Hall)
Often the journey is more satisfying than the destination and such is the case with this predictable yet appealing psychological thriller from playwrights Barry Agin and Nancy Lantis – a co-production of Off-Book Theatre and Broken Leg Theatre.
In Agatha Christie fashion, a wealthy widow is beset by mysterious forces and must use her wits, among other things, to prevail. Agin and Lantis infuse the piece with enough humor, shocks, and plot twists to keep us intrigued, to which is added a cast adept at keeping things interesting under Agin’s forthright direction.
Following the premature death of her beloved spouse, wealthy architect Victor Wilmington (Arthur Trowbridge), high-powered Manhattan attorney Myra (Michelle McGregor) spends a year hospitalized for her profound depression. Now released, she is finding respite at the couple’s mountain vacation house in upstate New York. As a requirement for her discharge from the hospital, Myra is also under the attentive care of sympathetic mental health assistant Florence (Lantis). Also staying with Myra is Judith (Mosley Agin), Victor’s vindictive, ne’er do well sister, whose plethora of wrecked marriages and affairs is grist for the secluded town’s rumor mill.
When Myra starts having psychosomatic occurrences, Judith mockingly chalks it up to Myra being crazy — after all Myra still talks to her dead husband. But is Victor a dream, a ghost, or is Myra’s own subconscious inveigling her to trust in her sanity? Meanwhile, Myra’s gossipy neighbor Grace (Janice Crow-Christensen) dishes the Wilmington family dirt with Florence, secrets even Myra knows nothing about. When the women find out about a string of break-ins in the area, tensions that are already stretched thin from various conflicts and suspicions near a breaking point.
Adding comic relief are Mike Fleming as the snoopy Sheriff Tate, whom Judith sarcastically calls Columbo, and Guy Noland as Jared, the local handyman and low-rent lothario. Agin has a field day as the moneygrubbing Judith, delivering snippy one-liners with droll wit. McGregor holds her own as Myra, struggling to hold on to reason despite Judith’s antagonism and finding solace in tender encounters with Victor. The elegant and detailed set design by Lantis and Phil Lantis’ lighting design create a believable milieu, despite a tricky front door. And while the mind may also play tricks on us, the playwrights remind us to be careful as it just might be others pulling those psychic strings.
The MAIN, 24266 Main St., Newhall; Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sat.-Sun., 2 pm; thru June 21. www.Unhinged.eventbrite.com Running time: one hour and 40 minutes, with a 15 minute intermission.
