Start Swimming

Reviewed by Taylor Kass
Indomitus Theatre Company – The Hollywood Fringe Festival
Through June 29

This is America. There is no room for mistakes. Stand on the grass and you might get shot. If your train runs late, you might get fired. Start Swimming is a surreal, movement-based, theatrical manifesto about the systematic oppression that keeps the most vulnerable members of society in a never-ending cycle of hardship.

The ensemble is comprised of five young people (Ethan Stachelek, Maria Camacho, Justice Quinn, Laurent Sayer, Joey Marcel Gonzales Aquino). They could be you, your friends, your kids. They’re dressed in nondescript khaki uniforms and creepy, two-faced white masks (costumes by Sharly Kama). But as each character ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time, they take off their mask, becoming a little more human to us. While we can see their struggles, we don’t get to know much about their dreams and desires, and these vaguely outlined characters become symbols instead of individuals. And without character or plot, the angst and frustration of this play has nowhere to go.

Nonetheless, this cast of LACC students is crisp and well-rehearsed, tackling synchronized movement and overlapping text with ease. As the characters wake up to the injustice they face, the ensemble transforms from a judgmental Greek chorus to a band of revolutionaries.

The sound design (by Vern Yonemura) is key. After almost every line, an unseen hand presses a bell or a buzzer. Treat your fellow man with compassion? Sorry, buzzer. Display cruelty? Ding, you’re right. Step out of line? There’s the distinct sound of a taser. In a twisted example of Pavlovian conditioning, violence is rewarded and kindness punished.

But who is responsible for pressing that button? The disembodied state? The suggestion of the police force? The idea of poverty? Without anything specific to fight against, our protagonists end up shouting into the void.

The Broadwater Mainstage, 1076 Lillian Way, Hollywood; Sun., Jun. 16, 11 p.m.; Wed., Jun. 19, 5 p.m.; Sun., Jun. 23, 10 p.m., Thurs., Jun. 27, 5 p.m.; Sat., Jun. 29, 1 p.m. www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/5700. Running time: 45 minutes with no intermission.