Michael Guarasci and Alexandra Lee (photo by Jeff Lorch)
This review is part of the Stage Raw/Unusual Suspects Youth Journalism Fellowship
Reviewed by Avery Eletto
Rogue Machine at The Matrix Theatre
Through October 12
RECOMMENDED
“To honesty! To friendship! To love!”
Adolescent Salvation at Rogue Machine Theatre brings truth to the 2020s teenage experience and the flow of messy emotions and messier relationships that comes with them.
This year’s Broadway scene has showcased plays that targeted teenage demographics (for example, Romeo & Juliet and John Proctor Is The Villain). Yet too often do these Gen Z jamborees jumble teenage realities with “trendy words” that have long gone out of the style the playwright intended. At Rogue Machine, playwright Tim Venebal’s Adolescent Salvation, however, brings these teenage stereotypes along for the ride.
The play’s leads, Natasha (Carolina Rodriguez), Taylor (Michael Guarasci), and Taylor (Alexandra Lee) are first seen through their phones’ glare as they watch social media separately while spending time together.(Yes, they are both named Taylor – male and female – perhaps to establish social separation between the Taylors and Natasha.)
This immature behavior sprawls into manipulation when the female Taylor (there’s also a male Taylor) forces outsider Natasha into spilling her darkest secrets, which female Taylor takes upon herself to save her from. When female Taylor’s so-called “adolescent salvation” plan implodes, the audience is left to face the consequences of what some may call naïveté, others selfishness.
I felt for Natasha along her journey as we entered into her perfectly cluttered bedroom (set design by Joel Daavid). We sit, isolated with her as the Taylors leave us and Natasha, or speak in whispers we can’t hear. This gives us a glimpse into her attachment to the adults in her life: her mother (Jenny Flack) and an English teacher Mike (Keith Stevenson) whom she is far too fond of. Mike is a creepy presence in Natasha’s bedroom, entering dressed like a million middle aged men your dad invites to the family barbecue (costumed by Christene Cover Ferro). Her mother, on the other hand, an alcoholic clinging to her teenage rebellious phase after a messy divorce, fits right into the childish atmosphere.
The set design, costumes and the brilliant performances come together under the direction of Guillermo Cienfuegos to capture this story written by Tim Venable. They refuse to tell you the characters’ next move, and it culminates in an unexpected climax that takes a dark turn on this coming-of-age saga. I highly recommend this hour and a half joyride that a people in a range of ages will love to escape to. Put simply: my dad and I both loved it. a
Rogue Machine/Matrix Theatre, 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.
