Palomino
One of the more intriguing one person shows I have seen so far this year is a piece called Palomino performed, directed, and written by Aussie David Hale and being performed at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, a gorgeous space used by the Mark Taper Forum as their “other” space. The recent Bengal Tiger at the Bagdad Zoo which recently played the Taper, started here. A lot of what is performed here is edgy, physical, or like Palomino storytelling.
David Hale is definitely a storyteller in the grand Irish tradition. Hale had an Irish actor in mind when the piece was first commissioned by the Long Wharf Theatre in Connecticut. The play had started as a radio play in NPR. The story evolves around an Irish Cabbie who is babysitting as it were a certain Palomino horse and carriage in Central Park in New York. When a certain woman suggests to him that he might sell himself or rent himself out for sex. He decided to jump at the chance. Cale plays three different women and four men. He glides easily between the characters and you could swear you could almost see them. Cale says he does. Though he is not really an actor, he totally captures the essence of these various people in the piece. Eventually Kieran settles on one woman Vallie who is captivated by his good looks, his sexual ability, and his Irish Charm. She is English, intelligent, lonely and intriguing in her own right. Kieran falls for her, in his way, and ends up as lonely and lost as all of his characters. What is important is that neither he himself nor his customers are ever treated as victims but rather as lonely souls trying to find their way and get some pleasure into their lives.
Hale has said he felt sorry for both Kieran and Vallie and is contemplating a sequel. One-person plays are usually about coming out, secret lives that one has led, or tales of show business. Palomino is uniquely unique. Palomino plays at the Kirk Douglas Theatre until June 6th.