Aiden John, Valerie Vibar, D’Andre, Jeanette Srinivasan, Carver Folkes, Gracie Glib (Photo by David Haverty)
Reviewed by Amanda L. Andrei
Two Roads Theater
Through April 27
Body surfing at San Clemente Beach. Cutting a catfish out of ice. Pondering over a billboard of “Totally Nude Nudes” outside an airport. Such disparate moments cluster together in Versified! The Human Equation, presenting snippets of life that create an experience more atmospheric than connected.
With so many variables and so few constraints, adapting poetry for the stage can be a daunting task. Based on a collection of poems by LA-based writer Bob Gossman, Versified! consists of a six member ensemble cast performing Gossman’s short free verse poems to create vignettes of strangers’ lives. Director Sonny Lira leads the cast through a variety of choreography and chorus, turning some poems into conversations, others into interpretative dance, and yet more into tiny containers of fleeting wishes and feelings. While some names are mentioned, more often the narrators are anonymous, and characters never truly emerge.
Yet the experience is less about following a character or a narrative and more about wondering — however briefly — at the snapshots of people’s lives. A minimal set of fabric and chairs with simple lights (by lighting designer Michael Rogers) emphasizes the simplicity of these poem-moments, while the music (composed and directed by Manuel Tirado) transitions between scenes through ‘80s-style synth beats and guitar licks. The performance is strongest when grounded in specific places or senses. A conversation between three men (D’Andre, Carver Folkes, Aidan John) about surfing Southern California beaches develops lively bonds of camaraderie. Three friends (D’Andre, Gracie Gilb, Valerie Vibar) getting drunk on cocktails offer a humorous moment as they rhapsodize about pomegranates and grenadine. And Carver Folkes delivers a remarkable performance, creating an amplified presence in the unnamed roles that suggests even more profound stories and struggles beneath the surface.
It’s a bright spot in a piece that otherwise feels longer than its 80 minutes, in part due to the literary language luxuriating in itself rather than activating any urgency or surfacing transformative insights from the collaged moments of life. One attempt at breaking out of page-bound language appears when an actor (Valerie Vibar) breaks character and addresses the audience directly. It’s refreshing — at first. The monologue then morphs into a bizarre improv comedy sketch. “This is the part where I make everyone uncomfortable,” the narrator states before alternating between double entendres, poking fun at audience members’ marital statuses, and reciting the scripted text that jokes about the play itself. What could have been a provocative moment between character and audience or a good-humored, self-deprecating wink from the author to his words instead turns into an eccentric scene with an actor-audience relationship that feels unfinished.
Discomfort is part of life (part of “the human equation,” as it may be) and more fulfilling when the rules and systems surrounding it allow us to make meaning of our lives and situations. Although Versified! offers a chance to observe and wonder, ultimately its calculus comes out unbalanced.
Two Roads Theater, 4348 Tujunga Avenue, Studio City. Fri.-Sat., 7:30 pm; thru April 27. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/versified-the-human-equation-tickets-807325039927?aff=oddtdtcreator
