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| Lane Compton and Ri Versteegh - Photo Agnes Magyar |
By Joe Straw
She: I’ve been by this theatre a
million times and never even knew it was here.
He: I don’t think that’s
true. A million times? Can you give me something a little closer to
the truth?
She: All right, hundreds of
thousands times.
He: The theatre’s been here 10
years. Let’s say you’ve driven by twice
a day, once going to work and the other going home. Two times 365 days in a
year times 10 years that’s 7,300 times.
That’s slightly less than your “million times”. And, even if you drove by for the next 100
years you still wouldn’t hit the million times mark. - a discussion of time and space between a man
and a woman.
Okay, I driven by this theatre a number of times and I
didn’t know it was here. That’s odd. I
look for theatres all the time.
I arrived early (what else is new) walked over to Starbucks
on the corner of Bundy, and spoke to an actor, from Atlanta, Georgia, working
there. His accent was the first thing
that gave him away, (first rate I might add), keeping it after a number of
years away from the south. He spoke to
me about his craft, living in New York, and studying with Al Pacino’s mentor
Charlie Laughton. Sadly, I can’t recall his name.
I Think I Can Productions presents: Seascape with Sharks and
Dancer written by Don Nigro and directed by Matt Doherty. It is playing at The Santa Monica Little
Theater at 12420 Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, about a block west of
Bundy.
The Santa Monica Little Theater is a very quaint black box
theatre, less than 99 seats, with old wooden chairs that are surprisingly
comfortable although a bit cramped for my 6-foot-6-inch frame.
Seascapes With Sharks and Dancer is an interesting and
peculiar play. And the story before the
play starts goes something like this. A
young woman, Tracy (Ri Versteegh) is seen late at night, naked and drowning off
the coast of Cape Cod near a decrepit beach house. The resident of the house, Ben (Lane Compton),
happens to be walking on the beach, sees her, and saves her from jaws or
whatever might be swimming near her.
The play takes place in Ben’s house, which is both decrepit and
quaint. The dusty décor has a sixties motif, furnishings that has seen better
days, tin buckets scattered across the room (to catch rainwater dripping from
the ceiling, perhaps?), old dusty lamps, frames without paintings, books on
makeshift shelves, travel alarm clocks, and a fish bowl with one dead goldfish.
And Ben, being a writer, has his writing workstation completely covered as
though it were a rancid piece of furniture, although he wants to be a writer in
the worst possible way. His homely
comforts are provided by his librarian job. And the lighthouse lights the room in
circumference through the living room window.
Ben has nabbed Tracy, completely exposed, saved her from a
certain death, and brought her to his place to keep her safe for the night. And
it would be foolish to think he didn’t have anything else on his mind. All in
all, this – this lonely 29-year-old writer has hit the fantasy jackpot! But, once he’s got her wrapped and on the
couch, things go downhill from there.
Tracy, is slightly obtuse, unorthodox, mentally unstable,
and has a slight speech impediment which, on this night, may be her good
attributes. She has other things on her
mind, about her current situation, and lastly she does not want to be raped.
She begins this portion of his wretched life with a polite
request for help.
“SERVICE! SER-VICE! HEY! I
WANT SOME SERVICE AROUND HERE! HEY!
HEYYYYYYYYY!” (As she pounds a book on the floor.) - Tracy
Her indebtedness, for his kind acts of chivalry, doesn’t
wear on her soul and she does not have a functional thought of gratitude
floating around up there. And while she is screaming for service, she is
looking for an escape route.
Meanwhile tender loving Ben is in the kitchen making hot
chocolate.
“I want to know why you went off and left me.” – Tracy
“I was making hot chocolate. I
thought you were asleep.” Ben
“I don’t drink in my sleep.” – Tracy
“I wasn’t making it for you.”- Ben
“ I don’t think I like your attitude.” – Tracy
Ben gets hot chocolate for both of them. They sit together,
Ben smiling at Tracy and Tracy not understanding what his smiles mean.
Tracy, still uncomfortable, thinks she very perceptive and knows
all about Ben and his personality.
“You’re afraid of things.” - Tracy
“What things?” - Ben
“Things. Everything. You’re
afraid of me. Probably the dark.
Cockroaches.” – Tracy
“What gave me away?” – Ben
Ben speaks like the protagonist of a Pat Conroy novel, the
wisecrackin’, getting-the-upper-hand-on-everyone type. But, what is really going on with this
character? What does he want? And how is he going about to get it?
Long answer short: He wants her. It’s simple enough. But how
does the loneliest man on the planet go about getting her? What does he get
from her? She is terrible person,
obnoxious, cold, rude, and someone who has lived most of her young life on the
streets (or so it appears). Answer: Ben is a writer and whatever surprising
gifts she’ll give him, he’ll take for his craft.
And what does Tracy get from Ben? For the time being, a home. She has a place to stay, out of the sea, and
off of the streets. She has to get beyond dealing with this wisecracking wussy boy.
“The way your face moved when I told you you were ineffectual. And the way you sit there and look at me like
I was somebody. If you weren’t afraid of
me you wouldn’t have to pay attention, would you?” – Tracy
“Does that make sense.” – Ben
“I can tell chicken when I smell it.” – Tracy.
(Chicken is slang for gay.
Is she calling him gay?)
First meetings make for strange bedfellows.
Director, Matt
Doherty, takes his time with the actors.
Tracy, wrapped, appears to have a nice comfortable couch to sleep
on. Ben is in the other room making hot
chocolate. It’s not an opening that says
a lot of what these two went through to get to this point. Then as the play progresses both actors are on
opposite sides of the room, in very uncomfortable moments. Bringing them together, during those times,
would highlight the emotional and physical action. His action in the first act is to get her into
his bed. But, there’s not one action that
leads to this event. Ben is all-wussy-book-boy being very polite. Where does that get him? An elbow in his groin and a busted nose. And she is all crazy, and unpredictable,
without seeing him once as a sexual being.
Isn’t there room here for physical seduction? (I’d say the shark scene, with
so much is going on, has plenty of room for seduction if it were played to him
rather than us. And for the purposes of this seduction she is the dancer and he
is the shark.) Also, there was one action where Tracy finds a grey
handkerchief, takes it and hides it behind her back. Ben eventually takes it
from her and puts it away. What was that all about? His apartment, plus grey handkerchief, equals bondage?
Although, it is very intriguing, this is
an action that is not fully explored.
And what about the ring she steals and places on the folds of her covering?
A very important moment may have been missed, on this night, when he came in
from the kitchen and she still has the ring (with no way to get rid of it.) And
one more thing, while we might see this play as her character being extreme in
nature, both characters demand to be just as cracked for this to work.
Ri Versteegh playing
Tracy is a stunning actress with an appealing look but, requires additional
seasoning to complete this role. More
focus is required for a stronger and creative objective. Finding the core of character will smooth out
the little bumps and that will come in time. Still, Versteegh’s work is fascinating,
her smile, and the light in her eyes. Also, light is her friend and staying in
the light, rather than moving out into the dark side of the set, will only help.
Also, moving closer to her counterpart, so close that their lips are almost
touching, closer to feel the fear, and closer to feel the excitement. This is
not to take anything away, but to add.
Lane Compton
plays Ben and he also has an appealing look.
But really, how polite can you be when you have one thing on your mind. Okay,
you can be polite and appealing but is that action getting the girl into bed? And the bed action, just, sort of, happens. For the purposes of this play, Ben is the
shark and his prey is a few feet in front of him. He is sizing his prey with all of his sensory
faculties waiting to take the first bite. And, on another note, is he really a writer or a
wannabe writer? There’s hardly any reaction to her throwing around his books
and then the taking his novel and throwing it all over the apartment. Those actions
should hit at the core of his character, he should feel it and we should feel it.
Don Nigro, the
writer, has a lot of interesting things in this play. But it’s hard to love a
character when she speaks like a truck driver. And it’s hard to love a man when
he is being run over by that truck driver.
There are a lot of nice touches in the set, the lighting and
the sound, and the member of that crew are as follows.
Savannah Brown – Stage Manager
Sebastian Sheehan Visconti – Sound Designer
Mike Brainard – Design Consultant
Danuta Tomzynski – Design Consultant
Andrew Wilder – Design Consultant
Philip Sokoloff - Publicity
Philip Sokoloff - Publicity
Take someone who is a little bit “this side of
wackiness”. Discovery is such a pleasant
thing.
THE SANTA MONICA LITTLE THEATER
12420 SANTA MONICA BLVD.
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