The Birthday Boys
Darkness. Fear. Certain death. Sounds hilarious, right? In Aaron Kozak’s “The Birthday Boys,” three captive marines struggle to keep their wits about them inside an undisclosed storeroom, blindfolded and bound with duct tape. The humor is two-fold both in the physical contortions as the men attempt to flee and free themselves from their bonds and the camaraderie that evolves as their execution looms.
Inside the intimate space at the NoHo stages, director Jacob Smith intensifies the claustrophobic atmosphere as the audience takes to their seats in dim lighting while a masked figure menacingly observes from center stage. The action is relentless from the moment the door opens and a supposed Iraqi militia group roughly deposits the men to the floor up to the final twist that gives this comedy a FUBAR flavor.
While it seems the fate of the U.S. marines is doomed, Kozak heightens the connections between these men, two of which share the same birthday on this, the day of their kidnapping and the other expecting the birth of his child at any time. As they grapple with their fear, coping in various degrees of bravado, anger, shame and consummate betting on things like who will cry or wet their pants first, the men divulge their personal lives and demons with emotional jest. They rib one another about women, jobs, their childhood, loyalty and weakness with machismo and occasionally, surprising affection.
The situation itself is dramatic, but Kozak steadily builds the white-knuckling mood with sharply drawn characters that plays on the audience’s empathy. Each man deals with his fears in his own personal way, sometimes to the frustration of the other two. Loudmouth Lance is defiant and full of youthful verve, made more believable by Sean Fitzgerald as he blames Colin, a whimpering sad sack of self-pity and cowardice played by Jim Martyka. Good ole boy, Chester, tenderly revealed by Gregory Crafts is stalwart and calm under pressure as he keeps Lance and Colin from killing each other before their enemies do.
The stakes get higher when the Leader, a well-spoken and calculated interrogator, given additional charm by Gabriel Reed’s svelte and smooth manner proceeds to threaten them with an AK-47 and vows to decapitate them one by one unless they answer his questions. Forced onto a chair, each are recorded and abused. The harrowing scene finds a strangely incongruent moment when the disguised captors perform a quick little dance as the men sing The Marines’ Hymn—this along with other subtler clues goes a long way to not feeling cheated at the end.
It’s an overwhelming sense of relief mixed with a touch of anger when Kozak’s play takes a surprising but not altogether satisfying twist at the less than dramatic conclusion. Audiences may feel a bit misled, nevertheless, the play is well plotted and I won’t spoil the end. It’s enough to say that the real enemy is not who you might think—an odd message to leave the show with.
Scenes between Lance and Chester reach more dynamic levels than when all three are screaming at one another, but the most interesting aspect is in the performances delivered almost throughout completely blindfolded, unable to react to one another except through voice. There are some miscues and flubbed lines, but this does not detract from the drama, if anything it supports it with a genuine sense of adrenaline flowing fear. Considering that these three actors are blind throughout most of the play, their performances are highly commendable.
Recently extended, “The Birthday Boys” is funny, dramatic and will leave you blindsided.
“The Birthday Boys”
Runs through April 2
Fri & Sat at 8pm
NoHo Stages
4934 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91601
PH: 818-849-4039
reservations@theatreunleashed.com
www.theatreunleashed.com
Tickets are $15
Friday and Saturday shows will be immediately followed by a
Special TU Late Night Show, “Everybody Dies in the End”