Amanda Perez and Joel Allen (Photo courtesy: Blue Pen Theatre Company)
Reviewed by Madison Mellon
Blue Pen Theatre Company at The Majic Factory
Through August 23rd
Solomon Astley and Nilka Burnett (Photo courtesy of Blue Pen Theatre Company)
Tunnel of Love is a montage. A meandering boat ride through a collection of scenes, snapshots, and conversations exploring the different forms relationships can take. As a meditation on this theme, it’s frequently compelling. The piece is often funny and touching, and this production has flashes of striking theatrical invention. However, while there are creative ideas, visuals, and promising moments throughout, this ensemble still feels like they’re finding their footing. The piece needs a stronger directorial hand, one that can stitch all the pieces together and make sense of them. Mark Sitko’s production doesn’t quite provide that clarity of vision.
The company has set itself a steep hill to climb before the performance even begins. The Majic Factory is an atmospheric building, converted from the old Echo Park Clubhouse & Library, but on a hot evening its lack of ventilation is extremely apparent. Audience members are seated shoulder to shoulder, continuously waving the handheld fans that are provided. It’s a stifling environment that makes it difficult to settle in and engage with the piece. Compounding the issue are several performers who struggle to project their voices, since the staging often has them facing away from the audience. I have nothing but empathy for the cast and crew doing their best to deal with the weather, but I would be remiss not to mention it as it did impact my experience.
Regardless, there are many individual moments that resonate. Alessandro Marino’s increasingly frantic argument with his lover unexpectedly evolves into an introspective conversation about cicadas, and is one of the more intimate and affecting scenes. Amanda Perez is equally engaging as a woman who runs off to find herself with a yogi — a story displaying both humor and emotional vulnerability.
In terms of staging, Chrissy Harding’s choreography provides much-needed variation and energy. This includes audience interaction and dance, as well as the inventive use of a large sheet that transforms into a series of evocative tableaus. Live music (by Brett Rojas, Lein Escudero, and Matthew Perez), paired with vocals from accomplished jazz singer Nika Burnett (who is also among the production’s stronger actors) adds another engaging layer. Collectively, these moments give the production texture, and many still linger in my memory.
Still, the ensemble never fully overcomes the shapeless quality of the piece itself. Montage and abstraction often work brilliantly on stage, but they require a fully fleshed-out perspective to give them purpose. Sitko’s direction never quite unearths the “why?” behind the proceedings, instead allowing scene after scene to move with essentially the same energy. The This constant starting and stopping makes it challenging for the piece to gain momentum, or for the audience to gauge what the production is building towards. At various points, it’s difficult to tell whether there are ten minutes remaining in a segment or another hour, with the ending arriving more or less like each one before it. Much of that challenge is baked into the script. For instance, Nick Samson’s Ticket Booth Man functions as a kind of narrator, delivering intermittent stream-of-consciousness monologues that are intentionally jagged and disjointed. But the meaning has to be wrestled out of them to bring them into focus.
And that’s really the overall issue. Despite the enthusiastic ensemble and many flashes of inspiration, the piece remains hazy, never fully sharpening into view.
Blue Pen Theatre, The Majic Factory, 1004 Echo Park Ave., Echo Park. Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Fri., Aug 15, 8 pm, dark Sat., Aug. 15; thru Aug. 23. www.bluepentheatre.com Runtime: 90 minutes with no intermission
