Gabe Oliva (Photo courtesy of After Hours Theatre Company)_
Reviewed by Dana Martin
After Hours Theatre Company
Through May 31st
RECOMMENDED
Katherine Powers, Ian Wolf, Will Riddle and Luke Rampersad (Photo courtesy of After Hours Theatre Company)
There’s something magical happening at After Hours Theatre Company. Dark Library: The Time Machine by playwright Blaise Hemingway is an immersive and highly imaginative mashup of novelist H.G. Wells’ most famous characters. It is an evening filled with wonder, intrigue, and good, old-fashioned theater magic.
Upon arrival, audience members are cast as colleagues of the scientists and members in good standing of the “Royal Society for Improving Natural Knowledge.” They are invited to an event at the home of Dr. Edward Turner (Will Riddle) that promises to unveil “ The Greatest Scientific Breakthrough of the 19th Century.” Dr. Turner’s head-of-household/closest confidant, Miss Watchett (Janaya Jones), leads members from a dingy North Hollywood alleyway over the threshold of time and space and into Dr. Turner’s Victorian salon, circa 1894 — a warm, dimly lit space filled with oddities and intellectual curiosities. Also in attendance are the brightest scientific minds of the late 1800’s — among them, stoic astronomer, Captain Robert Ogilvy (Luke Rampersad), the delightfully maniacal anatomist, Doctor Moreau (Paul Stanko), and brooding chemist, Doctor Benjamin Griffin (Ian Wolf). All are colleagues of Dr. Turner, and each is on the brink of discovery in their own fields. There are dedicated areas around the space for each scientist’s specialty, which are adorned with diagrams, graphs, chalkboards, skeletons, rocks, gadgets, and trinkets, all available to be used, examined, and explored.
Soon, Dr. Turner appears and unveils his newest invention: a time machine that he hopes will alter the very fabric of mankind. Dr. Turner’s time machine is in working order and travels back and forth through the time continuum — from a high-seas calamity in the not-so-distant past to an encounter with evolved beings far into future. In addition to his impressive accomplishment, Turner is not-so-secretly in love with his adversary’s daughter, Lady Ann Veronica (Katherine Powers), whom he fell in love with while they were both in school together. Ann Veronica’s father, the fastidious Lord Thomas Filby (Gabe Oliva), is an adversary of Turner and disapproves of the match. He threatens to upend Turner’s entire career and social standing.
The action moves fluidly back and forth through time and space; a real sci-fi adventure and gloriously imaginative. Hemingway pulls several of H.G. Wells’ characters together into the same world, creating a unique new story that’s a lovely homage to Wells’s storylines and characters. Director Jennifer Strattan keeps a tight rein on the evening’s quickly unfolding events and weaves the action seamlessly throughout the audience.
The cast, which also includes ensemble members Nia Johnson and Parker Sela, is uniformly strong. They spend a lot of time improvising, and engage the audience in the story in a way that is not off-putting or overwhelming. They drop character insights and secrets, foreshadow the plot, and engage willing participants in fun side quests. The scripted portion of the evening is exciting and well-acted. Standout performances include Katherine Powers’s Lady Ann Veronica andJanaya Jones’s Miss Watchett. Jones doubles as an otherworldly creature later in the evening, and to great effect.
Aiden Vice’s lighting design is dramatic and incredibly imaginative, as is the superb production design by E.K. Dagenfield and D’Angelo Reyes. There’s a surprising amount of dance throughout, with choreographer Emily DePauw creating complex, compelling movement in a very tight space. Composer Cooper Baldwin sets the mood, while sound designers Harrison Johnstone and Cooper Baldwin fill the space with auditory wonder. Parker Sela’s immersive design allows each character lots of room to play and exist fully within their area of specialty. The evening includes several themed cocktails (or mocktails) created by Jeremy Needleman and Al Rahn that are woven into the storytelling and served throughout the show. Liuba Randolph and Natalia Aksenova’s costume design is rich, detailed, and provides each character with status and distinction and gives several nods to Wells’s iconic characters from many of his most famous novels, such as The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, War of the Worlds, and others. Robert Ramirez creates the evening’s remarkable magic design, in tandem with mechanical effects designer, Clayton Williams.
It is said that the ethics of science are never black and white, so perhaps it is apropos that Dark Room: The Time Machine is filled with vibrant, colorful storytelling. Of all the theatrical events that exist within the time multiverse, this is a truly special and unique experience: a thoroughly imaginative, high-quality production that should not be missed.
After Hours Theatre Company, 5628 Vineland Ave, North Hollywood. Select Thurs., 7:00pm & 9:00pm; Fri.- Sat., 7:30pm and 9:30pm; Sun., 4pm & 6pm. Thru May 31st. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dark-library-the-time-machine-tickets-1984341001352. Running time: 75 minutes with no intermission.
