Kenajuan Bentley, Natalie Lander, Carolina Espiro, Liza Seneca (front), Cindy Nguyen and Emerson Collins in Matthew Leavitt's The $5 Shakespeare Company at Theatre 68. (Photo by Karianne Flaathen)
Kenajuan Bentley, Natalie Lander, Carolina Espiro, Liza Seneca (front), Cindy Nguyen and Emerson Collins in Matthew Leavitt’s The $5 Shakespeare Company at Theatre 68. (Photo by Karianne Flaathen)

The $5 Shakespeare Company

Reviewed by Julia Stier
The 6th Act
Through March 8

In a city preoccupied with film and TV, why bother doing theatre? In The $5 Shakespeare Company — written by Matthew Leavitt and directed by Joel Zwick — members of a theatre troupe, The $5 Shakespeare Company, grapple with that very question. What keeps them returning to small black box theatres, low wages and cramped dressing rooms? Is the struggle even worth it? As the actors deal with their personal jealousies and disappointments, they slowly rediscover the magic and hope that first brought them to the stage.

It’s clear from his writing that Leavitt has been around the block when it comes to L.A. theatre. The script beautifully captures the frustrations of actors who have been on the grind for years, while the backstage drama he’s created is both comical and painful. The humor and angst are everywhere, from the fake enthusiasm for the newbie starlet who booked a pilot a mere six months after landing in L.A., to the players’ ubiquitous thoughts of quitting, to their overall declarations of love for Shakespeare.

The company’s band of quasi-misfits is made up of 10 personalities. They have their leader, the fallen-from-grace sitcom star Jacob (Adam J. Smith); suave Randall (Kenajuan Bentley) and his showmance lover Elena (Carolina Espiro); and besties Camille (Cindy Nguyen) and Everett (Emerson Collins). There is also high-strung Louis (Luke McClure); Chester the King Lear aficionado (Andy Robinson); the aforementioned newbie starlet Spencer (Natalie Lander); the exuberant but clueless Noel (Jamie Zwick); and Lillian (Liza Seneca), a woman who has given everything — almost ruining her marriage — to pursue the craft she loves.

While the show is a delightfully relatable comedy, there are also many somber moments where the characters confess their fears and failed dreams. These instances add a gravity and depth to the script.

The play is a love letter to L.A. theatre, Shakespeare, and all the artists who put up with less-than-desirable circumstances out of their yearning to perform. The $5 Shakespeare Company shares that feeling of magic that comes with performing stories that have been around long before our time, and which will remain long after we are gone.

 

Theatre 68, 5112 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through Mar. 8. fivedollarshakespeare.eventbrite.com. Running time: one hour and 35 minutes with no intermission.