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Three Shorts
Reviewed by Lovell Estell III
Stella Adler Theatre
Through Sept. 7
RECOMMENDED:
Playwright Tim McNeil scores two out of three with this slate of one-acts. The odd man out is “The Straight Bozo,” a plodding affair about the happenstance encounter of three people on a subway. McNeil plays a hyper-chatty schlub, whose bizarre personality and conversation annoys a snooty businessman (Brad Kaz), and begets the curiosity of female passenger Terry (Nikki McCauley). There are some flashes of humor, courtesy of McNeil’s oddball character, but there isn’t much of a story and the script is too wordy. Melanie Jones directs.
Much better is “Purplish,” where Maia Nikiphoroff gives a marvelously nuanced performance as a playwright dying of cancer, and who is bravely trying to confront the specter of death while yearning to reach beyond the veil of life. She asks her lover Amanda (Meghan Leone Cox) to perform a play she has written about a trip to the afterlife, where the measure of her life is assessed, and death’s mystery resolved. McNeil’s writing is excellent here. The play is also very much about the inevitability and pain of love lost, and the script is spiced with dark humor and subtlety. Both performances are excellent under Alex Aves direction.
“Schism” places us in a Kansas farmhouse where a really creepy yokel (McNeil), has set himself up as a Pontiff, of sorts, complete with throne and vestments, along with his loyal, but overly excitable assistant (Fanny Rosen). Skewering religion, hypocrisy and sexual desire, this very funny satire is enjoyable from start to finish.
Stella Adler Theatre, Gilbert Stage, 6773 Hollywood Blvd, 2nd Floor, Hlywd.; Fri.-Sat., 8 pm.; Sun., 7 pm., through Sept. 7. (323) 455-3111, LabTheatre.bpt.me
