Before
Reviewed by Taylor Kass
The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble and Fishamble: The New Play Company
Through December 8
When the lights come up on Before, Pontius Ross (playwright and solo performer Pat Kinevane) only has an hour before meeting his estranged daughter. “I always fuckin’ hated musicals,” he tells us while making copious use of song and dance to describe growing up as the son of community theatre aficionados and unexpectedly becoming the father of a beloved baby girl. The play, developed by the Irish theatre company Fishamble and produced by the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, is bold in its aim to combine music, dance, and solo performance into one 90-minute piece. But its disparate themes and indistinct structure prevent the audience from truly understanding its central character.
Before takes place in Clerys, an iconic Dublin department store that closed its doors in 2015. It’s where Pontius comes to buy a present for his daughter before their reunion — but otherwise these surroundings are irrelevant to the story, which is primarily about Pontius’s simultaneously idyllic and traumatic childhood in the Irish countryside. The design elements don’t do much to further clarify the indistinct setting — the few all-black furniture pieces and Kinevane’s all-black costume blend into the bare walls of Odyssey’s black box theatre, which feels too large for the sparse set. The fourth wall doesn’t exist either, as Kinevane addresses the audience in a presentational style, even breaking character to call out a woman rummaging through her purse. He stands mere inches away from the first row, blurring the boundaries between spectator and story until the story itself starts to get lost.
Before simply tries to do too many things at once, which confuses its message and dilutes its emotional impact. It attempts both to satirize and celebrate musical theatre, leaving its viewpoint unclear. Kinevane tries to deliver dramatic, emotionally charged monologues with a stand-up comic’s timing. The plot hinges on a succession of shock-value twists, each of which ring hollow and melodramatic in the scattered structure of the piece. Thematically, Before touches on religion, sex, politics and family, but doesn’t delve deep enough into any one. There’s a song about online dating that’s completely disconnected from the plot and seems to only serve as a fun opportunity to use technology in a dance number. There’s also a disturbingly violent discussion about women who make false accusations in order to screw men out of money and custody. Whether intentional or not, this is a controversial political statement to make at a time when women are still distrusted when they come forward with testimonies about their own mistreatment.
As Pontius, Pat Kinevane can’t escape his own talents. Even though the character is a self-described simple Irish farmer, Kinevane always moves with a dancer’s grace and delicacy. For all his jokes about the corniness of musical theatre, Kinevane is at his most sincere when he’s dancing. It is the overwrought monologues that feel affected and forced. Even with all of Pontius’s backstory, winks to the audience, and stunning dance combinations, he always feels out of reach, a performer rather than a person.
The Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Sawtelle; Thurs.- Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through Dec. 8 (Note: no performance Nov. 28). (310) 477-2055 EXT. 2 or odysseytheatre.com. Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission.
