The Catastrophe Club

Reviewed by Deborah Klugman
La Fonda Restaurant
Through June 25

A party in a bar on the eve of an apocalyptic event becomes the foundation for one woman’s investigation of events 500 years in her past in The Catastrophe Club, Devin Burnam’s intellectually ambitious but underdeveloped drama.

Billed as an immersive event, this Los Angeles production (the premiere production was in New York in 2019) is staged in the now shuttered La Fonda restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard in Westlake. A group of friends meet in this rather desolate (for real) bar and supper club. Besides gathering for drinks, their aim is to make a videotape to use in a time capsule, to be preserved either for the young daughter of one of the women, who may be terminally ill, or for posterity. Little do they know that a genuine catastrophic event is upon them.

But there’s a catch. The people we watch interact aren’t real humans; they’re SIMS, created by Ruth (Lindsay Torrey), an anthropology-minded individual living in an Orwellian society in the 26^th century. Ruth has uncovered the 21^st century videotape and used the people in it as models for her SIMS. Her narration now serves as the framework for the play, whose central conceit is that we, the audience, are her fellow-citizens, and are meeting surreptitiously to learn about historical events. the knowledge of which has been forbidden.

With the exception of Maya, the bartender (Maya McGowan), the other characters are scientists and engineers who have worked together in the past but no longer. One of them, Anders (Rebecca Ann Johnson) has just sold her company for 80 million dollars, sparking pointed remarks from her former colleague, Emime (Burnam) about capitalism’s evils. Another, Teres (Lauren Yeoman), is the sick woman who’s waiting for a phone call with the results of a crucial test. Her friend Zizzie (Sophie Yukimi Gorai), who has a reputation for intimating the future, is working hard to buoy Teres’ spirits and assure her everything will be okay.

The overall premise is interesting, for sure, but the details surrounding both the plot and the characters are vague. For example, we are never told exactly what is wrong with Teres (who prances about as if she were in perfect health) — but her medical crisis is talked about and remains pivotal nonetheless. Nor is the project these scientists supposedly worked on together made specific; at one point they huddle and exchange generic, techie-type dialogue that sounds like it was written by someone who hasn’t a clue. The totalitarian behemoth that has Ruth so very paranoid is referenced but without particulars, while the cataclysmic event that supposedly levels our society never comes into clear focus either. In general, we don’t get to know these characters with any depth — instead, we observe them superficially interact. The dramatic tension doesn’t exactly sizzle.

Directed by first-time stage director Jake Hart, the problems with the writing are compounded by performances in need of dynamic and definition, with the exception of Torrey, whose anxious yet purposeful Ruth is clearly defined.

The evening also includes a prelude — a talk given by a non-actor who is not a cast member, which is held in the adjacent bar area prior to the scripted show. The evening I attended, an individual involved in projects to fight climate change gave a presentation. Though perhaps worthy of note in itself, this presentation added nothing to the story, while tacking 15 minutes onto the running time.

Set dresser Nicole Bernardini underscores the depressiveness of the playing area with strategically placed plastic sheets and naked light bulbs. Sound credited to Matthew Harting and director Hart adds a degree of ambience in a space where the high ceilings and poor acoustics impact on the actors’ voices.

La Fonda Restaurant. 2501 Wilshire Blvd, LA. Thurs.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 2 pm; thru June 25. https://thecatastropheclub.wellattended.com/events/the-catastrophe-club Running time: one hour & 45 minutes with a brief intermission.