The Designated Mourner

Reviewed by Amy Lyons
Theatre of NOTE
Through June 25

The fascists are coming. Wallace Shawn’s play — penned in the mid-‘90s — pits a bloodthirsty government regime against a band of subversive intellectuals and writers. The proceedings feel pertinent in the Trump era.

Theatre of NOTE’s production succeeds in the hands of three actors whose commitment to the heady text and chemistry with each other are both admirable. The pacing no doubt needs tightening, particularly because the play is full of monologues, but that’s a problem this company is capable of solving.

Jack (an entirely engaging Brad Light) is married to Judy (Rebecca Light, in an intensely thoughtful turn), but the latter is a daddy’s girl. Judy’s father, Howard (Christopher Neiman), a poet and political essayist, prides himself on his highbrow intellectual tendencies and commands a crowd of artistic hangers-on who worship his words but live in fear of the bullets flying their way. Judy, gaga for dad’s brilliant brain, can’t quite commit to Jack, who longs for lofty intellectual leanings but binge-watches TV and plays with his dick as the revolution rages.

Brad C. Light gives the standout performance. His grappling and guilt-ridden Jack swings between confident charm and unraveled neurosis. When his Jack looks the audience in the eye to confess a guilty pleasure or secret insecurity, it’s hard to look away. The aforementioned pacing problem, however, sits mostly on Brad’s shoulders —there are a few moments (very few, but still) when the line between deliberate verbal wanderings and potential recall trouble blurs.  

Cheryl Watson and Stuart K. Robinson direct with thoughtful attention to the dynamics of a father-daughter-husband love triangle.

Theatre of NOTE, 1517 N. Cahuenga Blvd.; through June 25.  
https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/3750 Running time: 90 minutes.