Death House
Reviewed by Lovell Estell III
The Road on Lankershim
Extended through March 23
RECOMMENDED
Few elements of the criminal justice system generate more discourse and lack of consensus than capital punishment. There are now some 3,000 men and women on death row in the United States, many of whom have been languishing there for decades. Closer to home, California, which has 744 condemned souls as of January 2019, hasn’t carried out an execution for exactly thirteen years. One inmate, Douglas Stankewitz, has been awaiting his date with the executioner for forty.
The amount of money expended on navigating this “machinery of death,” as Justice Harry A. Blackmun eloquently labeled it, is outrageous, and there are many other human costs that don’t show up on the balance sheet. In this world premiere drama by Jason Karasev, a pending execution brings three people together for a fateful, transformative confrontation.
The setting is a dreary grey room (effectively designed by David Mauer), equipped with a sofa, chairs, tables and a shower facility, where the condemned wait out their final hours while being counseled by the prison chaplain. George (Sam Anderson), has held that post for 22 years, and is first seen entering the room quietly, rummaging around as if in a mechanical daze, and muttering to himself. On this day he is retiring and handing over the job to Allen (Chase Cargill), a young, turbo-charged preacher who is eager to take on the duties of the job. They are a study in jarring contrasts.
George is elderly, tired and emotionally burned out from years of participating in the death process, which has cost him his marriage and his sense of purpose (“What I got is ghosts,” he plaintively tells Allen at one point). But he has also undergone a change of heart and mind about justice and the condemned, and he has come to realize that they too are just human beings, despite their crimes. Allen is solidly pro-death penalty, and sees his job as serving the will of the Lord and a necessary part of the biblical “eye for an eye,” admonition. He is there for the victims. The initial interaction between these two men is polite and labored, but gradually the discussion about the responsibilities of the post and George’s questions about Allen’s motives for being there brings into acute relief their complex distinctions. The exchanges become more and more emotionally volatile, and even spiral into some barroom style brawling.
Act I ends with a knock on the door, and the silent entrance of condemned murderess, Liliana (Verity Branco), whose very presence challenges both men, and whose life story will start Allen on the road to transformation. The most emotionally evocative and telling moment of the play comes in Act II, when Verity, after having her last meal and shower, asks Allen to braid her hair. While he does so, she relates the sad details of her life and the circumstances of her horrific crime.
Death House is not a perfect play, but it packs a wallop. Some of the plot twists are awkward, and the first act has too much padding. Michael Peretzian does a fine job of directing, and he draws solid, convincing performances from his cast. Derrick McDaniel provides a highly effective lighting schema.
The Road Theatre on Lankershim, 5108 Lankershim Blvd., N. Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; extended through Mar. 23. (818) 761-8838 or www.RoadTheatre.org. Running time: two hours with a 15-minute intermission.
