The Death of Sam Mobean
Reviewed by Stephen Fife
Orgasmico at the Hollywood Fringe Festival
Through June 26
RECOMMENDED
Mysteries abound in Michael Shaw Fisher’s The Death of Sam Mobean, a 50-minute play at the Hollywood Fringe. Whether or not you like the play will depend on your appetite for David Lynch-style surrealism. If you love Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks, you will be spellbound by Sam Mobean. If the very thought of trying to figure out the plot of Mulholland Drive makes you ill, then steer clear of this piece.
The play begins with the murder of Sam Mobean. Or does it? We are in the Gumknuckle Inn, where actors Schoen Hodges and Eric Curtis Johnson and bartender Alli Miller share the stage with Michael Shaw Fisher, the author. Hodges tells an unfunny joke, then talks about how lucky he feels on this night of “the butcher moon.” He proceeds to mime playing a two-dimensional piano that has been etched on the wall in chalk. Then he leaves for the men’s room. He’s followed out by Fisher, who has told us that he’s going to kill Sam Mobean. We hear a gunshot! But instead of Fisher returning to the stage, it is Hodges who returns, dressed in Fisher’s jacket.
This sets off a cycle of events and images that have a subconscious logic to them, but otherwise seem cryptic, enigmatic, illogical. Which I’m sure is the point: Those who want to subject the cosmos to reasonable interpretation are bound to be frustrated, missing out on the essence of what it means to be alive in a world beyond our control.
The ensemble is excellent, though my personal favorite is Heather Schmidt, who suddenly turns up in the third scene (of course, without explanation). She is funny, inventive, compulsively watchable, and she gave me a cold bottle of beer as part of the show. Unopened, no less.
Again, I have no idea what this “means,” except that I never take a gift of any kind for granted, and it solidified my decision to scuttle logic, enjoy the beer and give a thumbs up to the cosmic joke at the heart of The Death of Sam Mobean.
The Broadwater Studio Theater, 1078 Lillian Way, Hollywood; Sat., Jun. 22, 3 p.m.; Wed., Jun. 26, 8:30 p.m.; through Jun. 26. https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/6083?tab=tickets. Running time: 50 minutes with no intermission.
