 |
| L - R Donal Thoms-Cappello, Chris L. McKenna - Photos: Jessica Sherman Photography |
Warning: Due to strong sexual
content and imagery, no one under the age of 18 will be admitted.
Terry (Donal Thoms-Cappello) stood at the kitchen island
chopping a white onion meticulously, if not for a hell-bent purpose. Slowly, he bows to capture the soupçon of the
onion, letting the evaporated swirling scent lubricated his eyes if only to
enjoy the painful irritation of the floating aroma.
Finished, Terry takes his knife and forces the fragmented
pieces into the frying pan, and as the onion aromatically sears in the heat, he
dismisses the pieces, rather absent mindlessly, while he attends to the other
matters at hand.
A seasoned professional, with epicurean tastes, Terry flits
effortlessly like a dancer from one task to the next. Everything must be
perfect, including having the proper red wine to accompany the red meat that
will eventually find entrance into his sensitive somatosensory organ, the
mouth.
And in this atmosphere of wafting scents, Terry lights the
candles in his upscale apartment. He
knows that candles will project that extra warm glow on scrumptious stark-naked
skin. And he sets up the video camera to
capture that radiance for the events of the night, just for prosperity, and for
his aberrant sexual gratification.
The appetizers have been prepared so delicately, next will be the embellishment for the crabcakes after the guest arrives, and voilá, on to the
entrée.
The Sacred Fools Theater Company, The Schramm Group LLC, and Red Hen
Production presents Taste a new play by Benjamin Brand and directed by Stuart
Gordon. This world premier plays through
May 17, 2014.
Taste by Benjamin
Brand is a carefully crafted and wonderfully executed play. It is dramatically intense, delightfully
horrific, and sometimes tongue in cheek recreation of actual events told by the
master of the macabre storyteller Stuart Gordon. Anyone who likes to eat and have physical
relationships, not necessarily in that order, will enjoy this twistedly, intense,
and horrific thrill ride.
And in the same vein: I have never been to a live theatre attraction
where the audience screamed in unison as we all watched the terror unfold on
stage. The shrieks were deafening, hands
over the mouth, and heads turned uncomfortably in innumerable directions. If
horror, blood, and intense sexual dramatic situations are your cup of tea, run,
by all means, run to see this production!
“Sorry, I’m late.” – Vic
Listening to the timorous voice on the speaker, Terry buzzes
his guest Vic (Chris L. McKenna) into his building. Having only a few moments before Vic walks
through the door, Terry turns off the haunting music, and adjusts the video
camera to capture their first encounter.
Like cattle, before the slaughter, Vic enters with
attenuated body and takes measured steps into Terry’s apartment. Vic eyes the surroundings, the view of
hundreds of apartments from the windows, and the slab-like concrete floor. (Blood
won’t be much of a problem.)
Terry happily takes Vic’s coat, offers him vodka, and
directs him into the living room near the coffee table with the photographs.
“You don’t look like your photos.” – Terry
Vic, taking the vodka, grimaces as he gulps each drink. He explains the difference saying he likes
getting haircuts, and having the feel of someone else’s hands in his head. Hmm.
At this point he takes another gulp to deaden his senses and moves uncomfortably
close to Terry.
Now each one is in each other’s space for different reasons. And in that moment, nose to nose, it’s not
really clear if Terry views Vic as a possible sexual conquest, or someone who
is looking at a gorgeous piece of meat. Still he thinks about the night and obliquely
prowls his future meal until the onions, left on the stove, starts to caramelize.
“I can’t eat onions, garlic either.” – Vic
Another spoiler. How
can you devour a man on an empty stomach? No matter Terry has more than enough food to feed
this man until the job of the night is done.
But Vic is having problems with everything Terry has
prepared. Plans, carefully crafted, are
not working out for either man.
The solution? Terry cuittles
him to reaffirm what they are both here for, what they have already
discussed. Terry flutters over to the
computer and asks Vic for a favor.
“Let’s read our chats.” – Terry
Vic sits but is very uncomfortable with his line
readings. No matter Terry says he has a
gift and runs to the kitchen island to pull out a present, a large bottle of
cough medicine that Vic opens and inhales in one lugubrious sickening slug.
All this to settle Vic’s nerves, to calm his craven terror,
and to wait for the inevitable that must come this night. For this is the night, he has to “feel
connected”, to be real, to feel the role. But things on this night do not go as intended
and events sway in other directions. Which
only makes for a glorious night of conflict.
This is only a small taste of the show and of my
observations. Both actors are incredibly talented. Each heart stopping moment is layered with so
much life there is literally thousands of way to interpret a single theatrical moment.
 |
| L - R Chris L. McKenna, Donal Thoms-Cappello - Photos: Jessica Sherman Photography |
Donal Thoms-Cappello is
delightfully devilish as Terry. Terry is
so meticulous in his methodology of the night, he has everything planned out,
and he hopes the night is laid as he has planned. Unfortunately, things never go as prearranged
which gives us a glimpse of the other man, the Jekyll to Mr. Hyde, who is much
more aggressive and serious minded. But, is it love? Thoms-Cappello physical appearance is of a
character that stepped out of a ‘50’s horror film, and into this apartment, the
saccharine smile used to calm things, when inside he is thinking other
thoughts. And although he smiles at
giving a lesson at cutting parsley, inside he is being torn apart by his
companion’s inadequacies, both mentally and physically. The fascinating part of
the character, which thinks so highly of himself, is that he has “unique”
bookmarked in his dictionary. Thoms-Capello is outstanding in the role and his
performance is one not to miss!
Chis L. McKenna
is marvelous as Vic, a man who is at the end of his rope. His time is ending for reasons not entirely
known (to the audience). But, if he is
going out, he wants to go out on his terms. McKenna brings a grand physical and
emotional life to the character of Vic. McKenna
is extremely funny in a performance that one would think the opposite given the
circumstances of his end, but the opposite holds true and it is a testament to
his magnificently polished craft. There are no limitations to this role and
this is a no-holds-bar performance for McKenna who puts everything out there,
only a few feet in front of you, live on stage.
Pete Caslavka and Yuri Lowenthal are understudies for Terry and Vic respectively but did not perform on this night.
Stuart Gordon,
the director, does some amazing work.
Each moment is carefully laid out and it is almost impossible to predict
what is going to happen next. Every instant
worked to near perfection. In his craft, Gordon gives us a delightful mixture
of humor, horror, and sex as the events of the night play out to a wonderful
dramatic conclusion. Gordon eases you into the horror. The moments are like a
knife, entering bit by bit, until the time comes when the knife is forced in
and suddenly twisted. The thrill is the
slow anticipation culminating into the ultimate unspeakable horrors. And when that subsides he places the horror a
few feet away from you. “Pokey” is the term someone describes it when it is
right up in your face. But in this case,
(without giving this away) it is without the poke. I have two thoughts. The
presentation of the knives could have been more elaborate. And secondly the ending, taking that dramatic
leap to blackout, ending on a very high note rather than one that plays to our
sympathies.
Benjamin Brand
has fashioned his play on actual events and the events played, out on stage,
worked dramatically. Brand invites us
into Terry’s home, gives us the full layout, and says little about the Vic (tim)
his life, his work, and his relationships.
He is the meal. But, he is also a human with values and a heart who wants
to know that Terry is being honest with him. All of this plays out wonderfully.
Taste is an actor’s wonderland and logistically a director’s nightmare that
somehow came together to give us a wonderful night of theatre.
This is a huge production Produced by Ben Rock, Jenelle Riley, Dean Schramm, Adam Goldworm & Stuart
Gordon and with production values that you will not see in venues of the
same size.
Set Designer DeAnne
Millais did an extraordinary job on the set.
Matt Richter was
the Lighting Designer worked effectively but didn’t see a lot of changes on the
lighting of this stage, or ways in which the lighting changed the mood.
Jennifer Christina
Smith was the Costume Designer.
Tony Doublin was
responsible for the Special Effects and Gabe
Bartalos the Special Makeup Effects.
I’m not sure how they did it or where all the blood came from but it
worked marvelously on stage.
Other members of this outstanding crew are as follows:
Stage Manager – Megan
Crockett
Assistant Director – Ben
Rock
Lead Scenic Painter – Maria
Bjorkdahl
Prop Designer – Emily
Donn
Fight Director – Mike
Mahaffey
Marketing Associate – Bob
DeRosa
Lead Builder – Dante
Carr
Builders – Dominic
Rains, Carlos Juarez, Colin Green, Andrew Ferrer, Luke Rhoades, Andrew Amani,
Joshua Benton & Aaron Francis
Set Crew – Jaime
Andrews, Zachary Bernstein, Corey Klemow, Will McMichael, Tifanie McQueen, Lisa
Anne Nicolai, Bart Tangredi, Yonie Wela & Danny White
Laundry Crew – Trey
Perkins (There’s a lot of blood to clean up.)
Sound, Video & Light Operator – Megan Crockett
Publicity Photographer – Jessica Sherman Photography
Graphic Designer – Johnny
Mejia
The cleanup each night must be a monumental task and my hat
off to all that participate.
Run! Run! Run! And take someone you would like to have over
for a meal.
Ninety minutes – No Intermission.
Reservations:
310-281-8337
No comments:
Post a Comment