Miles Cooper and Luka Oida (photo by Katerina Kim Podell)
Reviewed by Julyza Commodore
The Beverly Hills Playhouse
Thru October 1.
RECOMMENDED
At the center of David Schulner’s An Infinite Ache are a couple: Hope (Luka Oida) and Charles (Miles Cooper); a bedroom; and the relationship complexities that they experience together over the years.
A very relatable and honest experience is created due to Schulner’s writing and the two performances. Time isn’t necessarily something that can be determined in this play (We’re alerted in the program, “Time: it moves differently here.”) Well, it surely does move at an accelerated pace as the audience ends up being the flies on the wall during the entirety of Hope and Charles’s relationship.
From the very beginning, the ambience is intimate and honest as two 20-somethings go on their first date. As the years go by, challenging aspects of romantic relationships come up, such as insecurities surrounding their ethnic and religious backgrounds. Charles being Jewish and Hope being an Asian-American, they share and even experience deep losses together, both personal and cultural. What is also shown is what brings them together and what makes their love work.
It is very apparent that with Mia Christou’s direction that the actors are encouraged to be truthful and grounded with their performances. The emotions are palpable throughout.
With the only setting being a bedroom, the set is fairly simple and so is the lighting, however this works because it allows for the main focus to be Oida and Cooper and their raw emotions. Lighting designer Derrick McDaniels does aid in showing how in an intimate theater, the lighting does make a difference when it comes to conveying emotions that the characters are experiencing. This production provides a great analysis not only of a romantic relationship, but of how it overcomes ethic and religious divides and, finally, the raw humanity of two disparate people experiencing life.
The Beverly Hills Playhouse, 254 S. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Hills: Fri.- Sat., 8 pm; Sun., 7 pm. , 90 minutes.
