To borrow from Gabriel García Márquez, we are in the Theatre in the Time of Covid 19. Theatre companies have gone under, their venues have been repurposed or destroyed and yet…and yet, as we continue to still mask up and hunker down, there is theatre to be had. I am a prolific reviewer having reviewed more than three hundred and fifty shows in the nearly five years since I decamped from the Bay Area to ply my trade in Greater Los Angeles. But with the advent of Covid19, a half year went by before streaming shows became a thing. I accepted an invitation to review Fountain Theatre’s streaming revival of The Ballad of Emmett Till last October. Ever so slowly, more opportunities for streaming theatre kept arising until the present moment when I was offered four shows in one week.
Streaming is no substitute for the live theatre and sitting with others waiting for the curtain speech and the dimming of lights, but the streaming shows that I have seen lately have been good to excellent. Last night I was privileged to experience an unusual Zoom production by The Group Rep, a venerable company that has been producing live theatre since 1973. Revenge is a new play by Bruce Kimmel and is touted as a “thriller.” The play is about an hour long
As one Zoom screen goes up, Doug Haverty takes the role of organizer greeting and informing the virtual audience. Soon other cast members of The Group Rep start to gather via Zoom readying to perform a reading of Revenge. One by one other cast members are introduced from home in their own Zoom windows. They are Linda Alznauer, Fox Carney, Larry Eisenberg, Kait Haire, Clara Rodriguez and Harley Walker. The one exception is Clayton Conroy who stands in front of a green screen.
Now the play becomes a play-within-a-play, as Conroy takes the roll of writer-director. The play then seemingly becomes yet another play-within-a-play, as the “thriller” part goes black comedy. Don’t forget that this is supposed to be a play reading. Conroy’s character reveals a relationship with Kait Haire, and soon it is a he-said she-said situation that goes very, very bad. The show goes into stalker territory that calls to mind Wait Until Dark. I loved it!
I wish I could say that you all out there could see the show, but it streamed only the once. Maybe they will do it again. Bravo Group Rep!
Paul Myrvold's Theatre Notes 