Aibhlinn Rose and Michael J.M. Cañas and Aibhlinn Rose (photo courtesy of Bad Ladder)
Reviewed by Martίn Hernández
Hollywood Fringe Festival at Bad Ladder
Through June 27
RECOMMENDED
The title of playwright-director Christina Tinde Jesenski’s compelling one-act refers to the phenomenon of speaking in tongues, an accepted worship practice in Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity and other religions. Embraced by some, scoffed at by others, the ritual has believers delivering indecipherable utterings while their bodies spasmodically contort as they are supposedly imbued with the spirit of God. The term also serves as a metaphor for the arguments made between the play’s characters as each desperately tries to convince the other whose side God is on.
The play is performed by alternating casts — the Cicada Cast consisting of Aibhlinn Rose and Michael J.M. Cañas and the Church cast consisting of Lily Rose Wadsworth and Colin Rinard. Both ensembles deliver prized work.
Opening in darkness, we hear the buzzing of cicadas and orgasmic murmuring, and when the lights go up, we meet Evangeline (Rose/Wadsworth), the teenaged daughter of a small town preacher, and Isaac (Cañas/Rinard), the adult protégé of the girl’s father. They are rearranging their clothes in an abandoned church yard with a dilapidated cross standing askew upstage on Jamieson Price’s moss-covered set, an ever-present reminder of Jesus Christ’s place in each of their lives.
While Evangeline feels it is God’s plan and is enthusiastic about consummating their furtive love after months of mutual infatuation, Isaac feels guilty for their sinful behavior, despite their living in a state where Evangeline is at the age of consent. Their action could still derail Isaac’s standing with Evangeline’s father and his church, as he reminds her that whatever the law says, churchgoers may still consider him a “pervert,” and that he would be in handcuffs if they lived in Arizona or California.
This matters little to Evangeline, who tells Isaac that husbands are usually older than their wives. “I’m not your husband,” he firmly declares, but this only emboldens her in her quest to convince him to cross that threshold. A psychological and religious tussle ensues, with each resorting to tactics that run counter to their genuine devotion to Jesus Christ. Lies are weaponized and skeletons in closets revealed as the stakes rise in their ecclesiastical pas de deux.
Watching both shows back to back was a challenge but a rewarding one for this reviewer. Rose and Cañas seemed more comfortable at the outset, quickly establishing a convincing relationship. While Wadsworth and Rinard took a while to work to credibility, they eventually offered engaging performances, especially when Rinard nimbly recovered from a misplaced step. Greg Crafts’s lighting in key moments, such as when the couple prays together or at the crucial denouement, complements Jesenski’s earnest direction.
Subtitled An American Gothic Drama, Jesenski’s play explores the role of faith in the face of a collapsing world, consent in sexual encounters, and whether religion is a boon or a bane for those seeking solace. Not without some sly humor, it is both disturbing and enlightening, most notably at the gripping finale. Delivered with fervor by both casts, these final moments epitomize the clash between good and evil that churns within many of us. Your guess is as good as mine as to which wins out.
Bad Ladder, 1514 N Gardner Ave., Hollywood; Cicada Cast – June 19, 7 pm & June 27 6:30 pm; Church Cast – June 13, 7 & June 21, 8:30 pm; christina.tinde@gmail.com Running time: 60 minutes.
