Last Call
Reviewed by Dana Martin
Open Fist Theatre Company
Extended through March 2
Last Call follows a fraying family faced with an inevitable event: an end-of-life care decision. Anne Kenney’s new play has endless potential for off-beat, relatable humor, but the story is more misguided than irreverent. Too often derailed by stupid sibling squabbles and absent a thorough examination of its sensitive subject matter, Last Call finds fleeting tenderness but reaches for humor in unlikely places — and too often comes up short.
Freshly fired TV writer Jill (Laura Richardson) is visiting home and attempting to make arrangements for her elderly parents to move into assisted living. Her dad Walter (Ben Martin) frequently falls while her mom, Frances (Lynn Milgrim), has dementia. Frances will most certainly outlive Walter, who is dealing with a grim medical diagnosis. Jill’s middle-aged brother Ricky (Art Hall) is freshly out of rehab (again) and living on their parents’ porch. He got a 16-year-old girl pregnant in rehab (oops, don’t tell Mom and Dad) and his plan is to take zero responsibility. In the meantime, Walter and Frances agree to commit suicide together. That is, Walter decides, and Frances is generally agreeable. But the attempt fails, after which the siblings make no move to arrange psychological intervention — or any help at all — leaving Frances (the only character that evokes empathy) rightfully terrified.
Lynn Milgrim and Ben Martin have good chemistry as aging parents Walter and Frances and have crafted deep, complex characters with a storied history. The only settled, genuine moments in the play happen in the shared moments between them. They talk to each other, not at each other. Laura Richardson’s Jill is shrill and tightly wound, with little emotional availability other than generalized, frequent temper tantrums. Art Hall is miscast as Ricky, Jill’s loser little brother. Bronte Scoggins’ young, pregnant Jade serves up a healthy dose of humanity.
As director, Lane Allison manages some decent staging but largely misses the mark in navigating the play’s emotional peaks and valleys. The set, designed by Allison, is warm, homey and provides many playing spaces. Peter Carlstedt’s sound design is subtle and well-blended.
Last Call is more unsettling than it is darkly funny. The intriguing part of the story is the relationship between the aging, ailing parents and the way the family copes with their imminent decline. But the story spends most of its time focusing on the quibbles of the petty, immature siblings. We never get to the heart, the pain or the humor of the story — the kids are too busy bickering.
Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., Atwater Village; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. (Feb. 17 only); extended through Mar. 2. (323) 882-6912 or www.openfist.org. Running time: two hours with one 15-minute intermission.
