Savage Love 

Reviewed by Julia Stier 
Charlene Westbrook 
Closed 

Sam Shepard and Joseph Chaikin’s play Savage Love is an evocative, experimental piece of theatre. Unusual and melancholic, it powerfully combines simple and at times profound text with mesmerizing dance to present an intimate look at love and loss.

A young man (Adam Navas) stands onstage, exposing his soul and sharing his heartache. His plight is underscored by stirring music, provided by Crash Richard, and his emotions are expressed on a physical plane by dancers Sarah Poldenak and Molly Horn.  

A bare bones script, Savage Love relies on a nuanced actor and a thought-provoking dancer to bring it to life. This production, directed by Harrison James, is lucky enough to have both. Poldenak twists and contorts her body to physically manifest the emotions Navas shares. Her constant movement and fluidity easily morphs between a lover in awe to one in pain. She occasionally alters with Horn, who brings a quiet strength and grace to the stage.

While Navas does an excellent job as the show‘s driving force, it is Poldenak who steals it. It’s impossible to take your eyes off her as she beckons and bends and physically embodies Navas’s sentiments of desire and pain. She glides through the space, bringing an incredible amount of precision to each of her moves and timing them perfectly to match Richard’s music. All of the different elements in this show come together and build off one another, creating art that is unique and that provides quite a different experience from most shows.

The Broadwater, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd.; Closed June 21. HollywoodFringe.org. Running time: one hour.