This is the second of two reviews for this weekend’s trip to NoHo for the Road Theatre Company‘s Off-Road workshop production of THE KITCHEN PLAYS. The series consists of four one-act plays, all written, produced, and directed by company members, and all taking place on the same kitchen set.  You can read my review of THE PETOSKEY STONES on a previous post, which provides some information about the series in general that I will not repeat here.

JIMMY JUMPS SUNNY SIDE UP is short on plot but more than makes up for it in character work. Writer Chris Goss plays Jimmy, a “freelance IT consultant” whose character absolutely nails the quintessential mid-twenties professional computer nerd: asocial, intelligent, awkward, arrogant, jaded, creative, and often a complete asshole. He is, of course, still living at home, as is the girl-next-door from his youth, Sunny; Deana Barone plays the gorgeous, sweet, promiscuous, eternally well-meaning airhead who just doesn’t quite… get it. Or him.  She has just been fired from her waitressing job for attitude and faces the prospect of begging for it back in the morning.

The play opens late at night (or perhaps in the wee hours of the morning) and Sunny has stumbled in through Jimmy’s front door, left wide open, apparently drunk. Jimmy is startled out of his computer repair project on which he is working. What follows is a highly emotionally-true dialog that reveals the struggle for identity and self-worth in a sea of days that seem to bring nothing special. And while being profound, it’s really funny. Funny because it’s true; I could swear I’ve met exactly these two characters in my life (or amalgamations thereof). I’ve just never had an opportunity to see them interact.

Barone artfully walks the fine line between reminding us of every airheaded party girl we’ve met,  but not letting the cliches cover up a real person in Sunny that shines through. Keeping a character of this nature honest and genuine beneath all the fronting is a real challenge, and Barone delivers.

I was very impressed with Goss, both in his acting and writing.  I think his character really struck a chord with me; I’ve shared that sense of nerdy isolation before, and certainly as an engineer I have met more than my fair share of socially awkward, sarcastic technogeeks, lashing out to cover internal insecurities.

Director Darryl Johnson shows a keen sense of timing in the careful placement of silence… moments that become horribly awkward, funny, and deep at the same time.  Engaging, thought-provoking, and often hilarious. JIMMY JUMPS SUNNY SIDE UP is definitely one I would recommend seeing.

The Road Theatre Company’s THE KITCHEN PLAYS runs January 7 through the 29 at the Lankershim Arts Center. Check out www.roadtheatre.org for info and tickets. The Road Theatre Company accepts the KCRW fringe benefits card for 2-for-1 admission.

I was itching for some theatre yesterday and ended up swinging by the Historic Lankershim Arts Center in NoHo for the Road Theatre Company‘s Off-Road workshop production of THE KITCHEN PLAYS. The series consists of four one-act plays, all written, produced, and directed by company members, and all taking place on the same kitchen set. Different pairs of two are showing each performance night, so plan wisely; I was able to see THE PETOSKEY STONES and JIMMY JUMPS SUNNY SIDE UP. The remaining two plays are SMORGASBORD and PHANTOM TICKETS.

The Lankershim’s 99-seat space was a nice blend of the intimate theatre feel, yet allowing for a more sizable set than most small theaters. Though the physical set, a slice of the downstairs area of a house (dominated by, of course, the kitchen) stayed the same between one-acts, the designers were careful with the accouterments. Between plays, small but noticeable elements changed, including the photographs on the wall and the items around the kitchen and on the tables. Lighting and sound design also highlighted the changes in time and place between plays, effectively creating very individual settings from the same set.

THE PETOSKEY STONES, by Elizabeth Sampson, was a slow starter. The play opens with a scenelet of Gramma watching expressively out of the window towards the fourth wall. We discover shortly that this is the direction of the large lake by which the house sits, as various women begin entering and adding information. We learn that these are Gramma’s four granddaughters, varying in age from what I gathered was late twenties through perhaps early fifties, and that she has called them together to distribute some of her most treasured jewlery. The jewelry is not only monetarily valuable (the dialog describes gold, platinum, sapphires, and diamonds), but carry with them sentimental value in the form of stories involving two people missing from the table. Both Gramma’s husband and daughter (the grandfather and mother of the other women present), have recently died. After Gramma describes the jewelry, she exits on a desire to rest and leaves the granddaughters to decide between themselves which ring shall go to whom.

The opening was a little meandering. It felt as if the the expository material was trying too hard to replicate real conversation, which usually tends to fall flat in theatre. I had trouble getting engaged with a central storyline, a task which was made more difficult by the fact that there were several characters being introduced in a relatively short time, with no clear protagonist on whom to focus attention. This is, of course, what real life is like, and it gets dry very quickly on the stage. After Gramma’s exit, the granddaughters begin discussing the rings. Previously hidden personal tidbits surface, and we discover from these sisters that many of the issues surrounding their mother’s death were left unresolved between each other.

This was the catalyst moment I had been waiting for; and indeed, by the time it happened I was starting to wonder if it would happen at all. Once there was conflict and emotional investment in the lines, the play rapidly took off. The dialog moved away from trying to replicate life, at which theatre as a medium is quite mediocre, and more toward trying to make us think about life, which theatre does extraordinarily well. The result of the switch was a suddenly intriguing, interweaving set of personal stories about these sisters, and how their lives and relationship to each other had evolved over time. The struggle to incorporate their mother’s death into their shared experience became the central action of the play, enhanced by the individual issues each were facing in their lives right now.

June Sanders as Gramma displayed a clear grounding in crisp acting; it was a pleasure to watch her facial and physical expressions, present and true to the moment at all times. Nicole Farmer brought a very pleasing set of layers to the eldest sister, Ellen; the weight of her character’s modern worries is clear, but it only sometimes represses the bounding, energetic, curious, and intelligent young girl within, the part of her forever delighted by the wonder of the universe.

Stephanie Michels delivers an assured portrayal of Stacianne, the second sister; however, I felt that the moments of depth in her dialog were somewhat disjoint with the rest of her character. I actually blame this more on the writing than her acting; I believe her most beautiful lines, while eloquent, profound, and delivered well, are inconsistent with her character as exposed in the early parts of the play. If the intent was to provide a glimpse into an unexpected depth beneath Stacianne’s otherwise nonplussed attitude, then this should have been emphasized more clearly. The alternative recommendation would be to incorporate more elements of this depth earlier in the play. As it is, the character as written feels, in this specific sense only, half done.

Avery Clyde displayed fantastic control of her physical movement and expression when playing the third sister, Pamela. Her character ranged in emotion from barely contained excitement to heartbroken disappointment. This emotion came across to me only partially through vocal delivery; her expressive physical delivery could have covered the task completely if necessary.

Paris Perrault played the youngest sister, Julianne, well enough. Her acting delivered what it needed to deliver and did not distract from any other characters or the writing. For a young actress still building her experience, this is actually a positive comment; so many young actors find themselves in over their head, and when this is noticeable, it detracts from enjoyment of the rest. Perrault held her own and did not seem out of place with this cast, but delivered nothing exceptional. My major suggestion for improvement would be that her emotional changes were too rapid and surface-level; a more careful attention to the inner process of emotional transition would serve her well in my opnion.

Scott Allen Smith as director shows a nicely integrated feel for motion and physical space, which is in keeping with the style of acting brought out in some of my favorite character moments as described above. The visual that sticks in my memory is that of the four sisters, after a poignant moment of emotional explosion, diffused to the four points of the kitchen like a diamond, and each in their own characterization of frustration.

Overall, an enjoyable first act to the evening. I do intend to investigate more productions by this theatre company, as well as the NoHo area in general.

The Road Theatre Company’s THE KITCHEN PLAYS runs January 7 through the 29 at the Lankershim Arts Center.Check out www.roadtheatre.org for info and tickets. The Road Theatre Company accepts the KCRW fringe benefits card for 2-for-1 admission.

Stay tuned for Review 2/2: JIMMY JUMPS SUNNY SIDE UP.