What’s the best way to pound pelvis? In Heat doesn’t answer that question but rather hints that that specific part of the body needs a lot of pounding. That joke is the only common thread between the four, one-acts that comprise this light hearted play. Call me overly passionate or whatever you want to call me but I like a thread of something meaty in a play. Even in comedy there has to be something crackling under the cheap one liners and quirky situations for it to stick with us. This play and it’s all star cast kind of crackle for me. But despite my laughter it was missing something
Carbs features Robin Thomas and Rebecca Klingler. Like the rest of the cast these two have impressive credits. So impressive that I stopped reading their bio’s because it made me feel inadequate as an actor. Call me another name, but I never really understood why one would include a bio in a play they’re doing. I like the feeling of not knowing who someone is outside the distilled experience of watching them in front of my own two eyes. That way as an actor you can never rely on your past work, you’re forced to bring the pain to each and every audience member. Not that these two phoned in their performances, that wasn’t the case at all. I just like figures appearing from the dark for my eyes and ears to feast on without wondering if I saw them in the movie that’s listed in their credits.
The order of the one acts didn’t have much rhyme or reason and starting off with Carbs seemed like a non choice. Or maybe I missed it. That happens sometimes. I enjoyed Thomas’ effortless performance in the role of Sydney. He filled the role of a movie director married to an aging actress to a tee. Klingler as Olivia was neurotic enough to believe her in her role as a working actress coping with the things that all actresses cope with: aging, neurosis, and bad auditions. Yet something was misfiring in Klingler’s performance that kept me from really accepting her the way I did Thomas. The two played well enough off one another and brought the relationship to life. But I wanted more from the material for these two accomplished actors to inflict more of the aforementioned “pain.” Overall it was light and funny until the end when the first mention of pelvis pounding slipped out of Klingler’s mouth. This took the opening piece into a weird awkward erotic nose dive. Somewhere earlier in the piece the director needed to overtly address the sexual tension between the two so when they went there at the end it wasn’t a slap in the face.
Genes and Chromosomes featured the physically perfect duo of Kyle T. Heffner as Fred and Shana Sosin as Sophie. That’s right Kyle you are physically perfect. You too Shana are perfect, as I’m guessing you’ve heard before. But the difference in performances was what sets the two of them apart. Kyle relied on his physical “rightness” for the part so much so that he let many moments go by without a real attack. Playing a role like that is a great opportunity for an actor, but he missed the boat by a bit. Not that he wasn’t funny, he was, but he could have been hilarious. That’s what I expected from him when the lights came up. I wanted him to really settle into the role and situation, and then give this play the meat it was lacking from the other pieces. There was something so overpoweringly sympathetic about the role of Fred that despite his seeming missteps we still got what was intended by the playwright. He proved that with the last moments in Genes and Chromosomes with that powerful manly gesture right before the lights went out. I appreciated it and the rest of the audience did too. Shana, played the statuesque picture perfect playful character of Sophie beautifully. The only moments she could have handled more deftly were the ones where she let slip the barbed comments about Fred’s size and had to apologize. Other than that her performance was enjoyable. They both worked well off one another and seeing where the relationship ended up was rewarding despite the few glitches I’ve nitpicked above.
Working Out Featured another pair of physically perfect (maybe predictable) actors for the roles assigned them. Gary played by playwright Malcolm Danare was a prototypical pining wimp to John Kapelos’ boorish Neil. Maybe I’m used to productions where the actor’s don’t look exactly like you’d expect the character to. It’s not always a good thing to cast prototypes, but it’s not always a bad thing. Here I would have loved to see the roles reversed. The physically diminutive and soft spoken Danare playing the lewd and aggressive Neil would have been hilarious. Kapelos playing a big lump of worthless heartbreak could have been classic. I’m not sure but this may have been a case of “give ‘em what they want.” Or maybe the Danare pulled executive rank being the playwright and called dibs on Gary. At any rate these two both do okay jobs of fulfilling their duties and provide enough laughs to justify their respective roles. Though the lewd comments from Kapelos’ “Neil” didn’t land as well as either he or Danare probably hoped for. Again the piece took a weird turn toward the sexually awkward every time Kapelos ogled imaginary women. Maybe Danare’s pen just doesn’t flow with the gift of sexual-funny.
Perfect timing had pretty good timing from Mary Mara and John Lindstrom. The two pair up as a couple at the tail end of their first (blind) date. The date has gone surprisingly well when the two decide to stop and to engage in a little post date flirting. They come close to kissing a few times before Mara’s “Faith” reveals her new age neurosis. The kiss is thwarted several more times before the scene is done. Once by a rat that needs saving or killing, and a few more times for “Faith” to reveal what her psychic advisor or spiritual charka guru whatever said recently. It gets painful until the two f-i-n-a-l-l-y kiss. Oh, wait not before Mara discloses the last big secret/weird thing about herself which ties into the pelvic pounding all the other characters talked about in the previous scenes. I won’t give it away but the joke pays off finally and it is funny.
The thing I felt the whole piece was missing though was change. In a piece like this I want to see each character grow at least a little. Out of eight characters we got to see change in three of them. It was rewarding when it happened with those three but that’s less than a majority. Maybe I’m constantly in search of a classic or a complete story and that sensibility is running up against just good work. But I know what I want to see and have offered the above. This play had some of what I wanted to see but was it enough to get a recommendation for you to see it?
Yes. I am an elitist (that’s what you can call me), and difficult to please when it comes to theatre and movies. Most people wouldn’t pick apart the genuine and funny performances that take place in In Heat. So I am going to say go and see this play. There are enough laughs and interesting moments to make it a worthwhile evening of theatre. The production value is good as are the set and music design. All of the actor’s were right on or close enough to what I felt their performances should have been that given a different night they could all be perfect. I did laugh a lot and left with a smile on my face. So from that point of view I say go check it out. Just be ready for a dose of pelvic pounding.
Runs
Sat, Jun 14 â Sun, Jul 20
Fridays and Saturdays 8 pm
Sundays 7 pm
Buy Tickets Online or call (323) 960-7724 | $20 all performances
The Lost Studio
130 S La Brea
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Ample Street Parking
Review by Guest Writer, Dutch K.
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