The Wake

Theatre Asylum
Through June 28

RECOMMENDED:

In Ben Moroski’s mesmerizing solo show, it’s not so much the story he spins as the manner in which he spins it that grips your attention. Moroski’s mercurial narrator Peter is a novice actor, whose workshop performance under the tutelage of a therapeutic instructor recounts an ego-shattering breakup with a woman he adored and depended on. Peter’s pretense of a “scripted” delivery is soon discarded, however, as — his urge to confide aroused — he begins to tell us about his background: He’s a kid from a small town who arrived in the big city looking for where life really happens, only to find that beneath the glitter it’s all pretty much the same.

Alternately funny and painful, his narrative takes a stygian turn when he spots a beautiful woman on a disco dance floor; later he finds her prostrate beside his car and takes her home, falling just as desperately in love with this cryptic creature as the love object who preceded her – but with a twist. Notwithstanding its clever central conceit, Moroski’s themes – unrequited love and the search for a world stage bigger and better than the one we’re born into – are common enough. What’s uncommon is the raw and riveting texture of his performance: the exacting physicality he uses to express hurt, disappointment, desolation and love, under Nick Massouh’s direction. It’s rare to see such vulnerability portrayed by a male artist in so unguarded and accomplished a way. It’s a coup.—Deborah Klugman

Feelthelove at Theatre Asylum, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/1637

This review is offered via a partnership between L.A. Weekly and Stage Raw. To maximize coverage of the Hollywood Fringe Festival, the two publications are sharing reviews and funding responsibilities. Stage Raw is an Emerge Project of the Pasadena Arts Council, with other funding coming from a combination of advertising and individual donors.  For the L.A. Weekly, please visit www.laweekly.com