Bloodbound 

Reviewed by Paul Birchall 
Highways Performance Space 
Through March 4 

A character in this latest play by playwright Michael Kearns calls it an “autobiography.” It isn’t, of course: For one thing, the characters all have different names from the playwright; also, the story’s impressionistic structure suggests a tale based more on opinions and perceptions than fact. Moreover, in this most familial of family stories, the interactions are founded more on what one person thinks may have happened, rather than what actually did. This, then, is a work of mood and memory, almost like a dream.

Kearns’ drama centers on the story of two brothers, each played by two actors — one as an older man, the other as a younger one. Vincent (Greg Ainsworth), a gay playwright who has lived with HIV for some years (we assume he’s the Kearns’ surrogate) worries about his older brother Anthony (Gordon Thomson), who is serving a prison sentence for beating a man with a baseball bat. The reasons why Anthony committed this crime are unclear — and Kearns, frankly, is uninterested in addressing them, except in the most glancing way. 

Instead, the play is about the relationship between the two siblings, who may have genuine affection for each other, and/or may be victims in some kind of cycle of abuse that can be traced back to childhood. The drama drifts back and forth in time and mood: as a younger man, Vincent is played by Hunter Lee Hughes in a notably sensual turn, while Anthony is portrayed, rather menacingly, by Mike Bash. 

Most of the narrative chores are undertaken by Ainsworth’s Vincent; unfortunately, Kearns’ rather burdensome prose has an inhibiting, intrusive effect. Indeed, the entire piece possesses a weirdly distant quality, which is unintentionally disturbing when one considers the underlying themes that could have been brought, more capably, to the surface. The play drifts from sadness to rage to lust and then back to grief, but it’s tonally flat. The playwright and the performers may grasp the story they’re telling, but its point is lost on the casual audience member.

Many of the work’s most intriguing aspects are picked up, briefly shaken like rag dolls, then tossed aside for something else that is handled just as briskly and broadly. We want to know more about Thomson’s fascinatingly nuanced Anthony — who is he and why did he crack so?  There are hints that the brothers’ mom molested their children — and that Anthony may not be as straight as he likes to appear.

Kearns is quite rightfully considered one of the city’s great playwrights, and indeed is a godfather of LGBT theater. No one writes plays like him. But the writing here rambles, with an almost frustrating lack of resolution to the author’s own feelings about the subject matter. Yes, it is artful when an author’s ambiguity towards the characters and situations is on display, but here the result is to simply to alienate us.

Thomson’s turn as the imprisoned Anthony is quite intriguing: He offers a beautifully rendered portrait of an alpha male gone to seed. And the younger performers, particularly Hughes, exude much of the sensuality and passion that may peter out as we age. I wish Ainsworth had made more of a favorable impression: His monotone delivery, even with lines meant to suggest quirkiness, seem like a missed opportunity. 

Highways Performance Space, 1651 18^th Street, Santa Monica; Fri.-Sat., Jan. 26-27 at 8:30 p.m.; Suns at 3 p.m.; through March 4. (310) 453-1755 or https://highwaysperformance.org/event/michael-kearns-bloodbound-8. Running time: 70 minutes with no intermission.