This Way to Your Ritual Lobotomy
This play has a subtitle: "Apocalyptic Thoughts As Mother Lay Dying." At first blush an odd coupling of ideas: A heavy afterthought to a screwball title. Yet everything you need to know about this delightful evening of theatre is encapsulated in those twelve words.
We find ourselves six hundred years into the future, in a society founded on the practice of surgically induced bliss. Our surgeon/priest begins the titular ritual lobotomy by providing hologram snapshots of the mankind that once was, a parade of extreme, troubled characters. Along the way, we are given a glimpse behind the curtain through personal asides from the playwright (another character brought to life by actor Felix Pire) about the death of his mother and the writing of the play.
Felix Pire is an animated ribbon of energy, a perpetual motion machine who dances through the blackouts between scenes and never backs down from the demands of the material. He exercises a gentle anarchy onstage, breaking the fourth wall at the right moments, developing a warm rapport with the audience.
Director Paul Storiale's work is subtle, his touch gentle. One would assume that the bulk of the direction involved shaping and reigning in Pire. The actor could not have accomplished as much without a keen, aesthetic mind at the helm. Storiale has provided Pire an attic-like playroom; a modest playing space long on utility. His use of the very wide and not-so-deep playing space at the Schreiber is masterful, taking advantage of the peculiar shoebox-diorama dimensions to great effect.
Playwright Guillermo Reyes has done a wonderful job creating these characters on the page, but the play overreaches just a bit. He has provided two framing devices: The futuristic Elian Gonzalez-inspired lobotomy cult and the touching story of Reyes writing the play as his mother died. The latter is the stronger device, and adds a deeply personal counterpoint to the comedic flourishes that dominate the piece. It beautifully sets off the central theme of a return to the blissful ignorance of youth. It would be nice to see a better integration of the two devices, allowing the personal story to dominate just a bit more.
This Way to Your Ritual Lobotomy is a very funny, very engaging journey through the not-so-blissful ignorance of everyday life, and an odd testament to the rich variety this life has to offer.
Friday and Saturday nights at 8pm through July 31st
Avery Schreiber Theatre
11050 Magnolia Blvd.
North Hollywood, California 91601