Gray People
Reviewed by Lovell Estell III
Force of Nature Productions
Extended through February 7
RECOMMENDED
In his well touted 2018 Fringe Festival Play Wounded, playwright Kerry Kazmierowicztrimm (or Kerry Kaz, as he is also known), examined the debilitating toll of war on the lives of three people who are bound together in a web of tragic circumstance and powerful emotion. Here, the playwright creates a trio of characters who are tangled in a destructive labyrinth of violence and deception that’s very much of their own making.
The setting is an isolated section of forest (effectively designed by Jeff G. Rack, Redetha Deason and Jerry Chappell), where we first see Jenny (Olivia Lemmon), with shovel in hand, standing with James (Walter Kartman) and Adam (Kyle Felts). They are all somewhat disheveled and grimed with dirt, and about them there is an unmistakable aura of strangeness and menace that perfectly mirrors their interactions with each other. Adam is a bearded hulk of a man, with a freeze-temperature glare and bullying manner; James is simpleminded, and at times displays an uncontrollable hysteria, while Jenny infuses the otherwise dark atmosphere with puzzling lightheartedness and tolerance.
As the play progresses, the reason for this eerie vigil slowly emerges. For five years, Adam and James have been employed as “diggers” for a mobster referred to as “Z,” meaning they have been burying bodies in this stretch of woods. On this night, they are waiting for a van with a fresh load of corpses, (“We drive, we dig, we wait,” Adam grimly barks out). But the waiting slowly wreaks havoc on the group, and they take refuge in idle banter and even a silly child’s game called “dreamworld.”
As the night stretches on and the van with the bodies doesn’t appear, the tension heightens; the diggers don’t know what to believe or think of each other, and Adam grows increasingly paranoid and suspicious of Jenny, whom he starts to think has been sent there by Z to dispatch him and James.
Ultimately, this leads to an eruption of violence and to some surprising revelations about the men, as well as the uncovering of Jenny’s real identity and her reason for being there. As grim as this scenario is, the playwright cleverly mixes in a hefty amount of comic relief. Yet, as well written as the script is, it could benefit greatly from paring down, especially during a terrific, well-crafted finale, whose impact is partially blunted by unnecessary dialogue.
All performances are energetic and solidly convincing under the direction of Sebastian Muñoz.
The Belfry Stage, 11031 Camarillo St., N. Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8:30 p.m.; four encore performances added Thurs., 1/17, 1/24, 1/31 & 2/7 at 8:30 p.m.; extended through Feb. 7. www.fonproductions.com/gray-people. Running time: 80 minutes with no intermission.
