SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
A CurtainUp Los Angeles Review
Animals Out Of Paper
By Rich Sienko
|
Some animals, I guess, they want to die alone.
—Ilana to Andy
|
Tess Lina, Kapil Talkwalkar (Photo credit Michael Lamont)
|
Ilana, a renowned artist, is developing an alternative to open-heart surgery, based on origami. She's struggling with a folding mesh that can be inserted into a person's chest where it can unfurl to surround the human heart. It can then be manipulated surgically by physicians.
After a painful divorce and the disappearance oh her disabled dog, she's become a recluse to shield herself from any further hurt. Ilana's cluttered, chaotic environment reflects her emotional state. She stresses, "I cannot work in a clean environment. I need clutter."
Tess Lina's Ilana never quite seems like a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She's too controlled and the walls never come down.
Andy (C.S. Lee), a smitten fan, has tracked her down. Counting his blessings, literally, he carries a book listing all he's grateful for. He's up to over 8,000 items. But when Andy accidentally leaves the book in Ilana's apartment, it reveals a man covering up for having risked nothing in his life. Though he writes "I've never been hurt," we soon learn something entirely different. Lee, a well seasoned actor, adds both humor with his perfect timing and emotion. He's the only one on stage who's truly vulnerable. Andy hopes Ilana will help unlock the potential of his student Suresh (Kapil Talwalkar), who excels at origami but is paralyzed by grief over his mother's recent death. He hides his pain by acting as a wise-ass, foul-mouthed rapper dressed in hip-hop hoodies and baggy clothes. A phone call with his father reveals the caring young man underneath the impenetrable armor of his costume. Talwaker proves to be a good rapper but not quire a gangsta. For his first professional production out of USC, he shows a lot of promise, excelling in the quieter moments.
Though the play is fundamentally heartfelt, Jennifer Chang directs it as if it were a sitcom. She misses many of the more emotional beats. Furthermore, details matter and too many here get glossed over. When Andy first enters from a downpour, for example, he isn't markedly wet. This creates a problem when Alana fears he'll get water all over the paper. Also, there's a large origami hawk hanging over the living room. Alana offers it to Andy if he can get it down. He simply climbs on a box and easily severs the tie. Alana could've done that herself. This battle over the hawk, which is both real and symbolic, should've been much tougher.
Sitcom music plays throughout. Like many of Miss Chang's choices, it strikes the wrong chord, trivializing Mr Joseph's poignant play. There is a pivotal scene for Surresh in which he cathartically begins anew. But he starts again with the urban rapping dialect, which negates the point of the scene and the play.
Miss Chang does create a very nice final moment when Ilana goes to the drawings of the heart she is to create. She contemplates the importance of the moment, then as scripted, attempts to begin folding again. It's a hopeful, moving moment.
Mr. Joseph delves deeply into the psychology of his characters' wounds. As with Gruesome Playground Injuries seen earlier this season at Rogue Machine, he shows how each of us is a collection of the unfolding incidents of our lives. We often become frozen in place, paralyzed by fear, hurt, and rejection. Joseph gives his characters another chance when others, usually those we least expect, become the catalyst for change. He also gives us a chance to change by watching his deeply contemplative Animals Into Paper.
For a review of a different production of the play go here .
| Animals Out of Paper by Rav Joseph
Directed by Jennifer Chang Cast: C.S. Lee, Tess Lina, Kapil Talwalkar Scenic Designer: Naomi Kasahara Costume Designer: Halei Parker Lighting Design: Tom Ontiveros Sound Design: Melanie Chen Production Stage Manager: Michelle Gutierrez Martina Plays Wednesday to Sunday through October 5 Runs 2 hours and 10 minutes and includes one 15 minute intermission Location: East West Players David Henry Hwang Theater at the Union Center for the Arts 120 Judge John Aiso St. Los Angeles, CA 90012 213.625.7000 www.eastwestplayers.org5 Reviewed by Rich Sienko |
|
REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email. . .also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. For a feed to reviews and features as they are posted add http://curtainupnewlinks.blogspot.com to your reader Curtainup at Facebook . . . Curtainup at Twitter Subscribe to our FREE email updates: E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message. If you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. |
|
Anything Goes Cast Recording
Book of Mormon -CD