Hir

Reviewed by Terry Morgan
Odyssey Theatre Ensemble
Through March 17

The word “hir” is a gender-neutral, third-person pronoun that replaces “him” or “her.” It’s an appropriate title for Taylor Mac’s play, which examines gender definitions in the context of an American family drama. This is certainly an interesting and ever-evolving subject to explore, but unfortunately Mac’s show is mostly a lot of speechifying in place of plot. The new production by the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble is generally well-acted by a game cast, but the uneven writing ultimately lets the actors down.

Isaac (Zack Gearing), returning home after three years of service at war, is surprised at what he finds. The house is a spectacular mess, with blankets and clothing strewn everywhere. His father Arnold (Ron Bottitta) — who’d had a stroke in the past few years — has been made up to look like a clown, with a rainbow-colored wig and a pink nightgown. His mother Paige (Cynthia Kania) is rebelling against patriarchal society by insisting on her own rigid set of rules, and his sister Max (Puppett) has recently come out as transgender. Isaac decides to impose his version of military-derived order on his family, but things don’t go as he plans.

Gearing is strong as Isaac, faring best in Act I where his longing to return home runs up against rampant change, causing him believable confusion and frustration. As Paige, Kania does a valiant job, infusing her performance with cold resolve, but the role as written develops more as an expository tool than a credible character. Bottitta is good as the mostly nonverbal Arnold, and his drawn-out howl of anguish on having his hand slapped is a particularly funny moment. Finally, Puppett’s Max is a bit too comically broad in the first act but becomes more restrained and affecting in the later, more dramatic sections of the production.

Director Bart DeLorenzo, whose work is often playfully creative and visually stylish, seems constrained by the writing here. Thomas A. Walsh’s set is impressive in its detailed untidiness, and the insulation on the roof of the house is a nice touch. Mac’s dialogue is occasionally witty (“You can’t wash plaid; it’s its own kind of filth”) but more often it’s clunky and preachy. The characters may be deliberately symbolic, but that doesn’t excuse Mac from failing to present them in an original and/or compelling way (the motif of Isaac repeatedly vomiting is especially tiresome). We’ve seen plays about toxic masculinity and the abused becoming abusers before.

The intriguing angle of Hir is bringing a transgender point of view into this setup, but ultimately this gets obscured by the more traditional, familiar themes, which is disappointing.

Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through Mar. 17. www.OdysseyTheatre.com. Running time: approximately two hours, with one intermission.