Mine

Reviewed by Paul Birchall
Moth Theatre in association with Rydemption Entertainment
Through April 16

Playwright Ryan Surratt’s three person chamber piece of need and greed strips motivation and morality down to their minimal essence.  It’s a fast-paced, surprisingly disturbing drama that often has you wanting to yell “Oh, don’t do that!” to the characters on stage. And while the plot itself may be unduly full of holes, the venom and adrenaline that flow through the theater craft a genuinely unpredictable mood. 

Joseph (playwright Surratt) is a diligent law student who is prepping for his board exams. He’s dating clingy and insecure grad student Melanie (Nicole Steinwedell), and all but supports his bum of a roomie Shane (James Oliver) who is as lazy and as unreliable as Joseph is stable and tightly wound.  Through a mysterious and morally suspect series of events, Shane essentially stumbles on a bag containing almost a hundred thousand dollars, which he earnestly believes will turn his life around.  It certainly does — but not in the direction he and his friends expect, as jealousy, recriminations, and just plain festering rage destroy the trio’s relationship.

Money as a corrupting force is a common theme, and the moral and dramatic elements of Surratt’s piece echo those in many other films and plays, from A Simple Plan right through to Moliere’s The Miser. The narrative also strikes one as light in logic:  We don’t really understand what keeps these characters, whose resentment of each other clearly outweighs their affection, in the same room together. And Huen’s decision to emphasize their dislike — driving what should be subtext to the surface almost immediately — prevents the viewer from feeling much empathy for them. 

Still, as director, Huen has crisply distilled the essence of greedy longing, effectively relaying the way that it corrodes and destroys everyone it touches.

Moreover, the pacing is brutally taut, while the interplay between Surratt and Oliver crackles with frustration and acrimony.  Steinwedell’s surprisingly nuanced turn as Joseph’s girlfriend — mostly she’s the superficial playmate, but very occasionally there’s a flash of a cold-hearted underlying bitterness — is quite powerful.   Also noteworthy is the set (designed by Huen) — an amusingly perfect “student-y” apartment which absolutely looks like the place you lived in right after college. 

Moth Theatre, 4359 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles. Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m..   Through April 16. https://picatic.com/mine. Running time: 70 minutes.