Adam Langsam, Angela Beyer and Taylor Lee Marr (Photo by Paul M. Rubenstein)
Reviewed by Lovell Estell III
City Garage Theater
Through June 15
RECOMMENDED
It’s been six decades since Harold Pinter’s enigmatic, controversial two-act drama about family conflict and dysfunction had its debut in London, yet it continues to lend itself to interpretative wrangling and ambiguous coloration. Still, the misogyny and male angst that are chiseled into it are oddly apropos to the times we now live in where critical attention has recently been focused on the subject of “toxic masculinity” and its destructive effects.
The play unfolds in an old London home owned by Max (Troy Dunn), a widower and retired butcher who is the father of a trio of sons as different from each other as are the elements. Lenny (Adam Langsam) the middle son, is cunning, articulate, and violent and earns his money as a pimp. Joey (Carey Cannata) is dull-witted, emotionally childlike and trains as a boxer when he isn’t working in construction. He is something of a brute, who at one point in the play shadowboxes with unfettered ferocity. Living in the home is Sam (David E. Frank), who is Max’s deceased wife’s brother. He’s a chauffeur and somewhat even tempered.
This is an all-male household which the ill-tempered Max lords over like an embittered tyrant. As the play opens, he stumbles in on his cane and immediately clashes with Lenny (Adam Langsam), who is seated on a worn sofa perusing a newspaper. It is immediately apparent that there is no love lost between them, and that their relationship is one fueled by anger and seething contempt. Pinter’s characteristic menace and dark tone is clearly in evidence.
The hostile family dynamic radically changes when older brother Teddy (Taylor Lee Mar),a college professor, unexpectedly arrives after years away in America with his wife Ruth (Angela Beyer). This core event is where the play really starts. Garbed in a tight dress that prominences her ample figure, Ruth exudes feminine charm and sexuality, and the males in the household all respond in different ways. She is composed, continuously crosses and re-crosses her legs throughout while seated on the sofa, and her coy expressions and feminine presence unleash a disarming influence that gradually begins to exert control of the men. (In Act II, Ruth has become completely sexualized and shockingly agrees to stay behind and work for Lenny as a prostitute!)
Director Frederique Michel has done an excellent job of regulating the aggressive tensions that continually arise in this play, as well as skillfully accentuating its sexual elements without overdoing them. The performances are excellent, especially Beyer whose turn as Ruth is flawless. Set and lighting designer Charles Duncombe’s living room set is nicely understated and functional.
City Garage Theater, Building.T1, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica. Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 4 pm; thru June 15. www.citygarage.org Running time: two hours and ten minutes with an intermission.
