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| Casey King and Cameron Meyer Photographs by Maria Proios |
By Joe Straw
After a year and a half, and a bout with COVD-19, the feeling to get back and witness what Los Angeles has to offer in theatrical undertakings (no pun intended) is a good feeling. We’re vaccinated, masked, have no underlining health issues, and pray for any existing variants to disappear. And, one might hope, the disease doesn’t reside in those attending who choose not to wear masks inside the theatre on this night.
Crimson Square Theatre Company presents Sex With Strangers by Laura Eason, directed by Benjamin Burt, and produced by Faye Viviana is now playing at the Beverly Hills Playhouse through October 17, 2021.
It’s odd that there is no credit given to the person responsible for the Set Design. But, there was a set, and actors performed on it. Behind a shadowed red curtain, Act One gave us a Writer’s retreat in rural Michigan, and Act Two was Olivia’s apartment in Chicago. I found the Writers’ Retreat fascinating because the set decorations were in threes, three bird sculptures, three pieces of art hanging on the wall, and three circular types of decorations also on the wall.
Sex With Stranger is about love, normally about two people, but oddly enough the play deals with a triangulate, him, her, and that intangible other thing. And it is that other thing, which makes this production soar beyond reasonable heights.
Olivia (Cameron Meyer) cozy in her writers’ retreat, next to a gas fireplace, with her bottle of wine, cocooned by an old shawl that surrounds her on this snowy March night in rural Michigan, notices a car driving up her driveway. She is not expecting anyone, and doesn’t want to be bothered because she has work to do on her novel that is on the verge of never being completed.
And, as the banging continues on the door she relents and lets Ethan (Casey King) into her cabin. Ethan is a total stranger to her; he is brash, and sometimes arrogant. His manner is a facade of sorts. As to whom or what he really is, is unquestionably that other thing that, and at the moment it is barely visible.
But Olivia is no stranger to Ethan and he is there under slightly false pretenses. He claims he has another cabin but because he got there late, no one has left him a key to his cabin, and now he doesn’t have a place to stay so he might as well stay on the couch to wait out the night.
And, the Wi-Fi is down so there is no communication with the outside world. How conveniently cozied for the both of them.
With no place to go, Ethan starts haphazardly removing his articles of clothing, his coat, his sweater, his shoes and plops himself down on the couch before asking if he could partake in the bottle of wine Olivia has opened.
Olivia relents, shares, and Ethan grabs the bottle and after three quick glasses finishes off the remaining contents of the bottle. Each time he drinks he forces the glass down against the coffee table, sort of like an exclamation point. He is now relaxed enough to suddenly reveal that he is a writer and has read her book, twice.
Now this has unexpectedly caught Olivia’s attention.
Laura Eason, the writer, easily puts us into the lives of two writers. The first one a very good writer filled with self-doubt and at present not commercially viable. The second writer a very successful but seedy blog writer with a million hits and a pseudonym who has the wherewithal to translate that into movie deals and sponsorship and who absolutely knows that he can write a great novel but doesn’t know how. Those two writers are together for a specific purpose, each one, in his or her own way, helping the other and, why not throw love into the equation? There’s a lot going on in this play including the use of phones, computers, and ipads to move the play along. The play is smartly written and enjoyable from beginning to end.
What is remarkable about Benjamin Burt’s direction is the natural progression of the scenes and equally natural way in which the actors navigate those scenes. The relationships move in a way of a natural growth from the beginning to the very ambiguous ending. (And, by the way, it is a great ending!) That said, every work of art needs fine-tuning and that might be said for the actors speaking out to the fourth wall and the unnecessary pacing back and forth in a few scenes from this two-hour drama. Those moments should be direct and have purpose. Still, it’s an incredible beginning for first this first time director.
Cameron Meyer (Olivia) has a very strong voice. Her projection will carry to the back row of the theatre and then some. No words will be missed! Meyer brings strength and also compassion to the character. As Olivia, she had her chance as a writer but is now skittish with self-doubt about putting anything out now until it is completely perfect. And she keeps her new work under close wraps. She fights to overcome what a few critics have said about her prior work. This has caused her great deal of pain and inner turmoil. And now a new man enters her life for reasons unknown to her. She has a dreadful curiosity about him that is overcome by a necessity of a physical relationship. Later, she learns about his life, and is troubled by his past actions and really works to overcome what he regards as his perceived foibles.
Casey King (Ethan) is a leading man complete with a sculptured body and a coruscation of an ethereal smile. Ethan gives off the impression of a man unencumbered by anyone or anything, which we find out, is not true. Or, at least, he gives off that impression. But, he has a few skeletons in the closet. No, maybe that is wrong. He has a walk in closet stuffed with baggage from top to bottom. But, he is in love. (Did we ever see that moment?) From the presentation I saw a need for a physical relationship, but I didn’t see a specific moment where he falls madly in love with her, which I think needs to happen the moment he enters the room. There needs to be a validation, or a certifiable stamp of approval. He already knows about her, he’s seen her photo on the back cover of her book, he has read her book, he is in love with her work so, why couldn’t we have that moment of confirmation. That aside, his work is engaging and it is a remarkable performance.
Allen Barton and Jeffrey Sun did an excellent job on the sound giving the characters a broad life far beyond the confines of their location. Barton, a classical pianist, also performed the music by Gershwin, Granados, and Satie.
Understudies Freya Adams and Derek Rivera did not perform the night I was there but are scheduled to perform Thursday October 7th, at 7:00pm and Sunday October 17th at 2:00pm.
Other members of the theatrical crew are as follows:
Stage crew: Jessica Ott & Nancy Paley
Graphics Design: Jeffrey Sun
Promo Photography: Maria Proios
Marketing/Social Media: V3 Production
Lighting Designer: Derrick McDaniels
Publicist: Sandra Kuker PR (Sandra Kuker-Franco)
Sex With Strangers is an impeccable work of art!
Run! Run! Run! And take a stranger with you. You’ll have something to talk about on your way home.
Tickets are available at: https://www.crimsonsquare.org/buy-tickets
For additional information or questions: contact@crimsonsquare.org or call 323-657-5992
Donations: www.crimsonsquare.org/support
Beverly Hills Playhouse
254 South Robertson Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
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