Xol Gonzalez and Warren Riley
Reviewed by Molly McLean
Hollywood Fringe Festival at Hobgoblin Playhouse
Thru June 28
RECOMMENDED
Warren Riley and Cameryn Mitchell
Urgent Care is a beautiful, sweet play performed expertly by a cast of great young actors.
The play follows Al (playwright Warren Riley) a transgender man, and his sometime-girlfriend Ellis (Cameryn Mitchell), in their respective entanglements in love and medicine. Also in the story are his slacker brother (Xol Gonzalez) and hyper-capable doctor (Madeleine Curran).
Both the story and its characters have a disarming simplicity to them. The play focuses on a clear, magical premise and sticks to it. The production succeeds by grounding the characters’ emotions in reality with great performances.
The actors seem very relaxed with one another. They deliver dialogue quickly and listen well, eliminating and delivering their silences at the perfect moments, all under Cyprus Cai’s direction. Each character feels alive and present. The actors transmit information about their characters with dialogue, silence, and physicality. Notable moments include a beautiful monologue performed by Mitchell, brotherly banter by Riley and Gonzalez, and the embodiment of deadpan bureaucracy by Curran.
The play takes place mostly in a house and medical offices, depicted by the placement of furniture. There are many short scenes that require scenic adjustments (moving couches, etc.), which occasionally slows the momentum.
The play has a huge heart and invites you into a surreal world of new possibilities. Why else would you go to the theater?
Note: The cast changes throughout the production.
Hobgoblin Playhouse, 1516 N Gardner St, Los Angeles; Sat., June 20, 10:30 pm; Wed., June 24, 7 pm; Sun., June 28, 7:30 pm; https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/13520 Running time: 60 minutes with no intermission.
