Thomas Piper and Tate Evans (Photo by Frank Ishman)
Reviewed by G. Bruce Smith
CIL Productions @ Theatre 68 Arts Complex
Through March 17
There is a brief exchange between the two characters in the world premiere of Coney Island Land that sums up the main problem with the play. The male character, identified only as 2, tells the female character, 1, that “I don’t know what I want” and “I don’t know what I need.” And it’s not completely clear what 1 wants either, though it’s possibly to leave her husband for 2, her high school sweetheart. So, without knowing exactly what it is these two are looking for, it’s difficult to find much interest in their interactions on stage.
Perhaps that is what playwright Timothy Braun intended, to simply pose the question: Will the two get together again 30 years after 2 ghosted 1 right after their high school prom? The play has a perfectly good ending, but the journey to that point isn’t terribly compelling for the reason stated above and because the characters themselves aren’t particularly engaging.
Having said that, Braun paints a complete portrait of both 1 and 2, who, at 1’s request, reunite on Memorial Day weekend 2021 in a beige Best Western room on Coney Island (perfectly designed by Jeff G. Rack). Their reminiscences are detailed — from his Brown 1979 Chevy Citation, which he dubbed the “Magic Toad,” to the love letters she put in his locker that he has kept for three decades.
She is pretty much in charge of steering their conversation, and we learn that she is still hurt by being abandoned by him and for the 30-year radio silence until the pandemic. He says he contacted her after many years because he’s “alone, conceited, vain.” She wants to know how he feels, whether or not he is afraid of commitment (he’s never been married). We never know quite how he feels, which lends a bit of tension to the action.
It’s not until halfway through the play, however, that we finally learn that she is planning to leave her husband. Or is she? Her husband calls her frequently in the motel room, and she always answers the phone. Finally, some stakes are revealed but they don’t have much power at this point.
Director Lucy Smith Conroy expertly keeps the actors in motion in what could otherwise be a static meeting of the two. She also gets very nice performances from Tate Evans (1) and Thomas Piper (2), both of whom clearly have the chops to excel at more challenging roles than those of Coney Island Land.
A final note: There is a point in the play when a seagull is shot outside their motel room by a Russian. Which begs the question: Is the playwright trying to emulate Chekov’s The Seagull in some way? A play where, famously, nothing and everything happens? (In fact, the subtitle for Coney Island Land is The Great Existential Actuality at the End of the Universe, implying a Chekhovian element.) If so, he falls short. Which is a shame because with some work, Braun could create something interesting a la Chekhov, or a reunion of high school sweethearts with underlying tension and high stakes.
Theatre 68 Arts Complex, 5112 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8:30 pm., Sundays 2:30 pm; thru March 17. onstage411.com/ConeyIsland. Running time: Ninety minutes, no intermission.
