Mass Graves
Reviewed by Taylor Kass
Loft Theatre Ensemble
Through October 23
Mass Grave’s exploration of the life-shattering effects of the American prison industrial complex begins after its characters complete their sentences. In its world premiere production by the Loft Theatre Ensemble, Cris Eli Blak’s play is an ambitious and emotionally intense depiction of the struggle and culture shock of reintegrating into society post-incarceration. However, in the play’s attempt to fully and immediately lay bare each of its characters’ traumas, Mass Graves burns too quickly through its narrative.
The story follows five men as they adjust to life after prison while staying in a halfway house, a liminal space between life on the inside and the pressures of the outside world. We meet Ryder (Jemeryas Jordan) the morning after he arrives, a secretive and solitary figure who’s quick to anger when house facilitator Seth (Paul Davis in the show I attended; the role is double cast) encourages him to have hope for the future. When the jovial former pick-lock Key (Antwan Alexander II) asks one question too many about Ryder’s past, Ryder snaps — after ten years in prison, kindness can seem threatening.
In truth, all of the characters in Mass Graves have that same uncanny habit of emotionally revving from 0 to 60 in an instant. Arianna (the powerful Jazmine Nichelle in the show I attended; the role is double cast) tells her ex-boyfriend Eddie (Tor Brown) to finally stop his substance abuse or stay away from their son for good. It’s a fully-embodied monologue performed with Shakespearean passion, but it would be better suited as a mid-show climax than the second scene in the play. With relationships ruptured and secrets revealed one after another in breakneck speed, Mass Graves rarely gives the audience a chance to get to know its characters beyond their trauma.
Director Matt Lorenzo has cultivated a palpable sense of camaraderie amongst the men who reside in the halfway house and care for each other even as they struggle to heal themselves. But there are issues that even a structured routine and a community can’t fix, like job discrimination and societal rejection and mental illness. Mass Graves isn’t wearing rose-colored glasses when looking at life post-prison, but it’s clear that the only path forward is through connection.
Loft Theatre Ensemble at Sawyer’s Playhouse, 11031 Camarillo St., North Hollywood; Fri, – Sat. 8 pm; Sun., 7 pm; thru October 23. Https://www.loftensemble.org or (818) 452-3153.. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes including one 15-minute intermission.
