Armando Torres and Scout Gutzmerson (Photo by Andrew Ge)
Reviewed by Madison Mellon
Theatre of NOTE
Through November 7
RECOMMENDED
Scout Gutzmerson (Photo by Andrew Ge)
Most stories center on the moment of greatest dramatic action or tension. It is unusual, then, to encounter a play that is entirely focused on the aftermath. Guilt over decisions made. Regret over what others sacrificed to help. Questions about why people are driven towards danger in the first place. All of these murky questions are the heart of Ashley Rose Wellman’s Forever in There or, Fuck Around and Find Out.
The story concerns Bailey (Scout Gutzmerson) and Noah (Armando Torres), two Americans that have just returned home after surviving a years-long hostage situation abroad. As they reconnect with their families and loved ones, they must slowly readjust to normal life — and deal with the uncomfortable question of why they were drawn to the situation that led to their kidnapping in the first place.
One of the production’s major strengths is its ability to balance its complex and intertwined themes, including an underlying critique of American exceptionalism and the naïveté of those who think they can swoop in and solve other countries’ problems. Equally compelling is its exploration of people who pursue danger to escape the mundanity of comfortable, everyday life. There’s also discussion of how news, social media and podcasts can provide connection and support — but also how these can easily develop into exploitative or unhealthy coping mechanisms. Less skillfully interpolated, all of these conversations could muddy the whole play, but Wellman overall does a solid job of balancing and connecting each of these ideas.
The cast is similarly strong. While the play could easily lend itself to histrionics or overemoting, neither Gutzmerson nor Torres overplay their characters, and their restraint feels truthful. The rest of the cast is also very capable, with Amberlee Clark’s Jax and Kathleen O’Grady’s Mara in particular emerging as intriguing and well-rounded.
Mark Mendelson’s set, a raised crumbling concrete platform with two trapdoor pits in the center, functions as a variety of literal locations while also providing a glimpse into the minds of the main characters. There’s also a standout design moment when blacklight paint is illuminated as a manifestation of the characters’ psychological distress. The central trapdoors are utilized only once during the entire performance, and it does seem a missed opportunity to not bring them back. Stephanie Yackovetsky’s sound design is also memorable, with vibrating bass and immersive surround sound used to evoke the disorientation of traumatic flashbacks.
With all this said, there are elements in the writing that don’t yet feel polished. A long dinner scene initially relies on contrived and clichéd interpersonal conflict before finding its truth, while the final stretch of the play includes several emotionally intense exchanges back-to-back that could benefit from being simplified or condensed. The conclusion also feels a bit too optimistic and tidy given the darker tone that comes before.
These issues aside, Forever in There or, Fuck Around and Find Out is a genuinely ambitious piece that lingers in the mind after one leaves the theatre. Wellman allows both her characters and the themes of the piece to be messy, uncomfortable and difficult.
Theatre of NOTE, 1517 North Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 7 pm, Mon., 8 pm; thru Nov. 7. https://theatreofnote.ludus.com/show_page.php?show_id=200547763&bpo=18017 Runtime: 95 minutes with no intermission.
