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| Nelson Lee and Julia Cho |
By Joe Straw
The details on how I got here, to this theatre, on this night are very
sketchy. Someone invited me. Who?
I’m not sure. I had to go back in
time, look back at my notes. And on this night everything looked dark, as it
usually does, at night.
Alas, it was a twitter invitation, a bird, and a chirp from a little
blue bird. I responded. Violà! - Narrator.
Artists at Play presents the world premiere of The Two Kids that Blow
Sh*t Up by Carla Ching, directed by Jeremy Lelliott and is now playing at the
Lounge Theatre through September 04, 2016 in Hollywood.
The play is a remarkable achievement and an ostentatious
work of art by Ms. Ching. It is a grand paean, a work in subtlety and nuance, of
taking a moment, a cause, and tracing the cause to its brilliant roots. And, to
top that off, it is written in a remarkable voice, one that is unpredictable,
dramatic, and funny. It is a story, albeit
a non-linear gaposis, of love and hate between two best friends at various
stages in their lives. One doesn’t get many opportunities to see an original
work of art where the relationships are pristine and the dialogue laudable.
Luminously directed by Jeremy Lelliott who manages to
capture a significant through line through a very troubling relationship. This
production is thoroughly enjoyable from top to bottom.
Dare I say that there was only one thing missing. (More on that later.)
What are the things that hold these two characters together? What are the bonding elements, and the mechanism
that keeps this relationship strong?
And, why haven’t they spoken in four years?
Age 38
“Hey, it’s me…” – Diana calling from a cell phone.
Diana (Julia Cho), 38 years old, who doesn’t have to say her
name, waits at a bar near the Brooklyn Bridge for Max (Nelson Lee), also 38
years old. When they finally see each other,
both are wearing black, he wears a hoodie, to hide himself, apropos for the
time and moment when the darkness covers most of his faults.
They have things to talks about.
The problem is that no one is speaking to the other, and they
have not spoken to each other for the last four years. Perhaps they are all talked out.
Stilted in the moment Max finds it hard to make eye contact,
or even express a fugitive grin. Max would just rather flip coasters like a
deck of cards not admitting anything while Diana looks on.
Diana takes her coasters and builds a mansion, (well better
than his) proving a point about their relationship.
“Why are we here?” – Max
Yes, why are we here?
Well to understand the now we have to go back to the past.
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| Julia Cho and Nelson Lee |
Age 9
Maybe they were nine year old when they first met. Snowfall
in New York makes for a pristine play space outside an apartment building. And because they are kids their job is to stay
away from under the parents and make a snowman.
Diana would much rather build a snowwoman, but Max, head jogging
like a bobble toy, snarls like that’s the most ridiculous thing he has ever
heard. Still, they build together.
“Your name is kinda messed up, Di.” – Max
This doesn’t sit too well with Diana. She is headstrong and has a mouth on her like
a drunken sailor as she curses her parent’s frugality. Image of a ruffled
chicken come to mind. Just 9 years old.
Max says he takes judo.
He’s a yellow belt. Diana in a
game of one up man ship says she’s a green belt.
So now would be a good time for Max to go inside and get
some juice. And as he leaves Diana puts breasts on the snowwoman. Max acts like
he doesn’t care, or makes out that he doesn’t care when he comes out. And maybe that’s what brings them together at
first.
Diana asks Max why he didn’t bring her juice. (The
personalities have made their mark.)
“Have you blown up anything today?” – Diana
Max has already gained a reputation as something else
explodes around the house. And that’s
just the start of things blowing up.
Age 24
“I want Gina.” – Max
Max has fallen in love.
Her name is Gina (not seen). She
is the main clown in a circus show in Atlantic City. Diana takes in this
information in stride; his love for her, but one still sees a little
disappointment in her eyes.
Max, as usual, doesn’t have any money, but wants to take
Gina out. So, guided by inspiration, Diana takes what few dollars there is between
them for gambling money and says they will be having steak by midnight.
Age 15
Fifteen years old and they have a better idea about
communicating with each other. Liking
each other a little more, expressing their feeling how they feel about their
parents, and about themselves.
“You are crazy.” – Diana
“Is that a bad thing?” – Max
Age 28
“ Number 256.” – Announcer
That’s the number they started on. Prenuptials arranged, the couples are now called
by a numbering system to get married. A cold and heartless announcer counts up as
each couple step up to the marriage plate. Max and Diana are dressed but Max is not
getting married on this day.
Diana nervously wonders if she has got everything. Her epilepsy medicine, Max gives that a
“check”. Maybe Max doesn’t think marriage,
for her, is a good idea, and asks Diana why she loves him. Her response is not
definitive, “that he makes her safe.”
Max sees something in that statement. He knows her far
better than she thinks.
“Good guys are not what you choose.” – Max
And while he’s on the subject Max tells Diana that he owes
the groom $800.00 and would he do a favor and ask him to forgive the debt.
Diana is really not happy about having to do this on her
wedding day.
Age 17
Max has got this harebrained idea of becoming an actor and
Diana has all the answers because she’s smarter than him. No truer words were spoken. Well, at least,
that’s what she always thought.
Carla Ching’s
play is a work of art, luxuriously fascinating in the manner in which it is
presented moving back and forth in time. In each scene, the audience collects significant
bits of information, and then puts the pieces together. No pun intended but the audience are like members
of a bomb squad piecing together fragments of a crime scene, while the
characters are blowing things up, mostly their relationship.
For example, after going back and forth in age, we think we
know the characters. And, out of the blue, we get a piece of information, at
the age of 28, that Diana has epilepsy.
It is said in a casual way, an intimate acknowledgement the characters
know about each, and, in another flashback, we find out more how that became
intimate. There are a lot of these
moments in this play.
To say more about the play would just be giving the pieces away.
At this point you have one day to catch this production, September 4th
2016 being the last day.
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| Nelson Lee and Julia Cho |
Julia Cho (Diana)
is excellent in her craft. Cho has a wonderful symmetry in her dramatic manner
and style. Diana is a complicated character.
She is strong-willed, forceful, and very smart. Sometime her vocal
predilection gets into the way of her intentions, what she really wants but is
unable to articulate. She is in love with Max, but love always gets in the way
in doing the right thing. Cho is a
marvelous actor with a unique and powerful presence.
Nelson Lee (Max) is
solid in his craft. Max is a character who is not really reliable except where
his friend is concerned but then again he only shows up when he wants something. The kind of friend that most people keep at
arms length. He does his best to cause havoc, whether it is subtle (the kiss)
or instrumental (the theft). Funny, but
he never apologized or even admitted to his misdeeds. Lee has a strong and
powerful manner on stage.
The moments in Jeremy
Lelliott’s direction are very subtle but it is a solid outing. One prefers a play with an emotional outpouring;
a feeling that one will lose the other in what ever form that takes. It never
goes that far, but it could.
The one missing thing on this night, especially after a very
robust applause, was a second curtain call.
The work deserved it.
I loved the Brooklyn Bridge painted on the upstage
wall. It was just the right touch provided
by Se Oh, Scenic & Properties Design,
to show that we were near Chinatown in New York.
Other members of this magnificent crew are as follows:
Emily Brown-Kucera
& Rachel Stivers – Costume Design
Alexander Le Vaillant
Freer – Lighting Design
Jesse Mandapat – Sound
Design
Andrew Knight –
Dramaturg
Donna Eshelman –
Movement Specialist
Jonathan Castanien
– Stage Manager
This show had a very short run and deserves a longer run.
Run! Run! Run! And
take someone who loves the Brooklyn Bridge!
The Lounge Theatre, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, California
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