[ssba]
Imagining Brad
Reviewed by Jessica Salans
Theatre Asylum
Through July 25th
Valerie (Sarah Randall Hunt) moves to Nashville, Tennessee where, at a Sunday service, she meets the talkative native, Dana Sue Kaye (Sirena Irwin). It is clear from the start that these two women, one hiding behind a shy demeanor and the other an exuberant faux-confidence, boisterously bragging about her wonderful marriage, have something sad and disturbing lurking in their lives.
Dana Sue Kaye befriends Valerie, begging the newcomer to stay and be shown the sites of Nashville. Valerie mentions she must get back to her new husband, Brad. When Dana Sue prods Valerie as to why Brad did not show up to Sunday service, it is quickly revealed that not only does Brad not go out in public, but he does not leave the house because he has stubs for legs and arms, is legally blind, and has a crusty flaky skin that I suppose just does not do well out in the sunshine.
Dana Sue is baffled and there are moments of disbelief where neither she nor the audience is certain of whether Brad actually exists.
Imagining Brad, written by Academy Award winner Peter Hedges, has the potential to be poignant and funny, but the bare stage of the Elephant Theatre is too much of a black abyss for the two actresses to fully command the story. Irwin’s Dana Sue is charming but is directed by Clare Carey to be so overtly jubilant, we suspect right away that the perfect life she waxes on about is a work of fiction. Hunt’s Valerie feels lost from the start, so that the debate about Brad being a fabrication becomes something of a blur.
Theatre Asylum, Elephant Theatre, 6322 Santa Monica Blvd., Hlywd.; Thurs.-Sat.; 8 p.m.; through July 25. https://www.imaginingbrad.com/
