\nBY PAUL BIRCHALL<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n We\u2019ve been told often enough that theater is for older people \u2013 or, worse, that young people don\u2019t appreciate or understand the joys of the theater.\u00a0\u00a0To those folks, who usually seldom go to a play themselves, Devin Weil offers the most eloquent rebuttal one can imagine.\u00a0 Devin, 21, a recent graduate in Spanish Literature from Occidental College, is someone whose sophisticated and mature passion for theater belies her youthful appearance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n As part of the Stage Raw<\/em> outreach program in which a young theatergoer is invited to accompany a veteran critic to a show, I interviewed Ms. Weil, whose obvious enthusiasm for theater-going is a kind of reassurance that theater can still be for everyone — even in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I had been warned by the publicist of the show we\u2019d been assigned to, City Garage\u2019s Production of Maria Irene Fornes\u2019s The Conduct of Life<\/em>, that the play was a little dark and sometimes difficult to watch, the result of a story (set in some unnamed Latin American country ) that included acts of rape and torture.\u00a0 I warned Devin of this and offered to book on to a different show if she\u2019d prefer -\u2013 but she would have none of it.\u00a0 \u201cI love challenging theater!\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Primarily, however, her enthusiasm for theater can be traced to her mother\u2019s enthusiasm for it, and to attending theater, often, while growing up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI was brought up in New York,\u201d Devin explained, \u201cAnd my mom really, really loved the theater.\u00a0 I grew up going to the theater all the time \u2013 I\u2019d see theater every weekend!\u00a0 They were usually shows that my mother thought were interesting -\u2013 the small stuff . . . But every weekend I\u2019d go to a show with mom.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Although Devin appeared in a few plays in high school, she quickly realized she was not a performer.\u00a0 \u201cActing always seemed like just a hobby and what I really wanted to do was just to see theater.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The transition to Los Angeles, when she moved out here to go to college, was a game-changer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI really got to know LA over the past four years.\u00a0 Learning a new city was kind of an adventure,\u201d says Devin.\u00a0 And, indeed, in addition to her studies at Occidental College, Devin has worked a variety of unusual gigs \u2013 \u201cI was a delivery driver for a juice company. That took me all over the city, from the Hollywood Hills to Studio City, to Echo Park.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Devin is also assisting with writing a book:\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m working with a chef, helping him create a cook book about Mexican-Kosher food.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A former volunteer at the Los Angeles Film Festival, which dovetails nicely with her enjoyment of movies \u2013 old movies, she explains: \u201cI\u2019m a Turner Classics kind of girl.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The pre-show conversation quickly devolved into a list of favorite shows she\u2019d seen, which encompassed an unexpected variety of works of different types. \u00a0\u201cI remember seeing a great Barefoot in the Park<\/em> . . . and, yeah, that Hedda Gabler<\/em> with that woman from Weeds [Mary-Louise Parker].\u00a0 That was crazy. talk about dark! I guess I\u2019m an old fashioned person. I\u2019m an old soul!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Devin approached her theater visit to City Garage with excitement and the self-evident delight of someone who just enjoys the theater as a place to be.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reviewed by Devin Weill<\/strong> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Maybe the trifecta of the 76 gas station turkey sandwich, full moon, and repeated rape sequences on stage were the perfect marriage to make my stomach have difficulty digesting, or maybe the subtle sounds radiating from my stomach came as a result of the intense BUTI yoga class I took earlier that afternoon. Either way I had a strong visceral reaction to Maria Irene Fornes\u2019s The Conduct of Life<\/em> at City Garage.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Before the full throttle theatrics, I met Frederique Michel, the French redheaded miniskirt-donning femme fatale who directed the play. She warned Paul and me with the simple remark, \u201cIt\u2019s tough\u201d that accompanied a slight chuckle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Placed in a sofa in the last row of a small theater (maybe 50 seats at most), Paul and I had a bird\u2019s-eye view of the three realms represented on stage: the upstairs attic, the living room, and the basement (or at least that\u2019s how I interpreted the layout). The only sound that accompanied the voices of the characters in between scenes was a clanging-of-iron-working-at-a-rail-yard type sound.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The first image ingrained in my mind is of Orlando (George Villas), the lieutenant\u2014his militant aura, rigid movements, and mini monologue where he announces, \u201cThe goal is to eliminate all obstacles . . . maximum power is the ultimate ideal.\u201d Those words seem to paint the pain and pleasure paradox that haunts Orlando.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Orlando\u2019s \u201cobstacles\u201d come in the form of the three women in the play: Olimpia (Nicole Gerth), the maid; Leticia (Kristina Drager), Orlando\u2019s wife; and Nena (Nili Rain Segal), the orphan girl he holds hostage and rapes repeatedly. Olimpia offers some comic relief to the otherwise dark, difficult drama with her sassy remarks and obvious faint friendship and loyalty towards Leticia and her role as a comforting mother figure to Nena. Leticia comes off as a foolish woman trapped to the confines of the house but she also seems to be simultaneously scheming her escape with dreams of going to university, becoming educating, and changing the world. Nena is a trembling puppy dog, a shell of a person. What seems most evident is that the strength and fortitude of Orlando is a veneer hiding the destroyed person he truly is. Like Nena, he is an orphan, without a home, a shivering puppy dog whimpering for help. Orlando\u2019s desire to destroy only further destroys him, leaving him powerless. The Conduct of Life<\/em> grapples with the common paradigm of male domination and female submission. But the play subverts that theme with Orlando because his hubris shines brighter than any physical strength he possesses and ultimately destroys him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n City Garage, Building T1 at Bergamot Station Arts Center, 2525 Michigan Ave, Santa Monica; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.;\u00a0 Sun., 5 p.m.; through Aug. 17.\u00a0 citygarage.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Also, read Paul Birchall\u2019s review<\/a>.<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"From](\"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Conduct-of-Life-48461.jpg\")
<\/a><\/a>The Conduct of Life<\/em><\/h1>\n
\nCity Garage<\/strong><\/em>
\nThrough August 17<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a>