Andrea Flowers, Meeghan Holaway (Photo by Lizzy Kimball)
Reviewed by Terry Morgan
The Road Theatre Company
Through February 18
RECOMMENDED
Playwright Steve Yockey has one of the most original and distinctive voices in modern theater. His work is often suffused with dark humor and weird or supernatural elements, but he’s equally adept with serious issues and relationship drama. He’s quite prolific (Reykjavik, Very Still and Hard to See, and The Fisherman’s Wife are just a few of his works) but isn’t a household name just yet (although an upcoming TV adaptation of a Neil Gaiman story may change that shortly). The west coast premiere of his play Mercury is currently receiving an excellent production at The Road Theatre Company, and his trademark combo of hilarity and horror remains gloriously intact.
Pamela (Meeghan Holaway) and Heather (Andrea Flowers) have recently concluded an illicit affair, and Pamela isn’t happy about it. Heather is trying to keep the relationship going as a friendship, but she also is unnerved by Pamela’s rage. Busybody Olive (Christina Carlisi) likes her gay neighbor Nick (Justin Lawrence Barnes) but hates Nick’s boyfriend, Brian (Danny Lee Gomez), so she goes to a mysterious gift shop in which the proprietor, Alicia (Gloria Ines), sells unorthodox problem solutions. Meanwhile, Mercury is in retrograde and things are about to go to hell.
Holaway is convincingly intimidating as the angry Pamela, and Flowers does a skilled job of showing how Heather is torn between residual positive feelings for Pamela and increasing confusion about her hostility. Carlisi is superb as Olive, her stuttering little laugh and seemingly neighborly gestures concealing endless self-righteousness. Barnes is very good as the generally reasonable Nick, especially in a scene in which he finally really loses his temper. Gomez excels as the bitter Brian, who bickers with the patient Nick and worries about living in the country. Finally, Ines is great as the cheerful and chatty curiosity shop owner Alicia, and Billy Baker is terrific and has the best entrance scene in the play as her boyfriend, Sam.
Director Ann Hearn Tobolowsky gets fun and energetic performances from her game cast, and stages everything clearly and concisely on Katrina Coulourides’ clever and detailed three-set rotating stage. Puppet designers Glenn and Linda Brown gets credit for providing what will surely be the best prop of 2024, but I won’t ruin the surprise. Yockey’s characters are credible and compelling, and his dialogue is reliably witty, as in one moment where Pamela refers to cacti as “antisocial tombstones.” His twists and surprises are many, and those who appreciate the more macabre side of life won’t be disappointed.
If you haven’t experienced the pleasures of a Steve Yockey play yet, Mercury is a very enjoyable production and a great place to start.
The Road Theatre Company at the Colony Theatre, 10747 Magnolia Blvd., N. Hollywood; Fri.—Sat. 8:00 p.m., Sun. 2:00 p.m.; through February 18. www.roadtheatre.org. Running time: ninety minutes with no intermission.
