Bhutan
With the play Bhutan, (a land representing all the far off places and new life for which the younger characters yearn), the Rogue Machine Theatre Company once again produces what I like to call “living” theatre—a totally gratifying experience from which one leaves spent and fulfilled. Is it the play? Is it the acting, directing, or staging? All these elements come together to tell a story that pulls the audience in and will not let go. The story it tells is of the final disintegration of a once tightly knit, working-class, rural New Hampshire family suffering the loss of their father and husband and the incursion of modern social sensibilities and development.
The play unfolds in a series of flash forwards and then returns to the present. The transitions in this split narrative move quickly and, because of the expertise of director Elina de Santos and artistic director John Perrin Flynn, will undoubtedly become seamless stiches as the run continues. Ms. de Santos must also be praised for the depth of the performances she drew from her actors, who played together and really listened to one another. Two of the actors were very young, and when I first saw them my heart sank—“Oh no! What am I in for?” But Tara Windley (Frances) and Marco Naggar (Warren) both proved
themselves beautifully, and I attribute this to some extent to the
great skill and care taken by de Santos.
The most brilliant performance was given by Ann Colby Stocking as Mary, the matriarch and vicious bully of the clan—a heroic and tragic figure fighting with all her fury and power to hold together the remains of her family, insulating them from the realities of time and change. I’m not sure the play could be done without Ms. Stocking, so meshed was she with her role.
Playwright Daisy Foote, daughter to the late Horton Foote, may have a more gritty view of humanity, but lacks none of the compassion, intellectual query, or formidable talent. Her plays include, Living with Mary, God’s Pictures, Farley and Betsy, First Look, The Hand of God, When They Speak of Rita, and she has just completed an adaptation of John Steinbeck’s The Winter of Our Discontent for Steppenwolf Theatre’s new film division. She has been honored with the Roger L. Stevens Incentive Award, in association with the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays in cooperation with the President’s Committee for the Arts. She’s busy with film scripts as well.
I felt the set was too sterile and modern—not exuding the atmosphere of a farm kitchen lived in for perhaps generations. The story and fine acting, however, quickly rendered it inconsequential.
Another must see at The Rogue Machine.
5041 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90019 (West of La Brea)
Oct. 23-Nov. 20, 2011
Saturdays at 5pm, Sundays at 7pm & Mondays at 8pm