Better Late Than Never
As the child of a single mother growing up in 1960's Los Angeles, Virginia Watson spent a great deal of her young life immersed in television, something she preferred to reading. The tube presented her with a different world from the one outside her door. Determined to become one with her television, Watson cajoled her mother to let her attend an open call and the rest is history.
Through the conceit of inviting friends and family into her memorabilia-strewn apartment on the morning of the day on which she will finally receive her diploma from USC - twenty five years after she was supposed to have graduated - Ms. Watson reveals the joys, nightmares, trials and triumphs that filled the first four decades of her life. Some of them are very entertaining, some amazing, and some uncomfortable to witness. In a way, the performance serves as a therapy session for the actress/writer, but it also presents an affirmation of the ability in all of us to overcome adversity.
Ms. Watson’s stage presence is highly energetic and she tells her stories well, slipping in and out of the characters from her life with ease. A very prominent flat screen television helps her along, but it can also be distracting, and while I understand her mother using the device as a babysitter, it seems a poor choice to let the unreliable appliance entertain the audience during costume changes that might be better carried off behind a screen on stage. The script seems to leave out clarification of certain details and some segments go on too long, but overall Virginia Watson has quite a story to tell, and with the help of director Iona Morris and producer Bee-Be Smith Johnson, she does a pretty good job.
Be sure to arrive a little early so you can find parking and take a moment to appreciate a very interesting art exhibit in the lobby, curated by the Pounder/Kone Art Space of Atwater Village.
- Stewart Skelton
September 27, 2008
Better Late Than Never plays Thursday and Friday at 8:30pm and Saturday at 8pm through November 8. The Lost Studio, 130 S. La Brea Ave. in Hollywood $25
323/769-5049 Www.Plays411.com