Los Angeles Times - 07.03.2020

LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR E3

“Home,” Geoff Sobelle’s
mercurial meditation on the
physical spaces that contain
our lives, is a magic poof of
scenic theater. A silent mov-
ie conjured through the in-
genuity of simple stagecraft,
the show glides from domes-
tic image to domestic image
with the alacrity of a dream.
At the Broad Stage,
where this hallucinatory vis-
ual poem runs through Sun-
day, a home is assembled be-
fore our eyes. Sobelle, a ki-
netic performer trained in
the arts of clowning and
mime, slides a few panels of
the frame of a house across
the stage and proceeds to at-
tach a plastic tarp with a sta-
ple gun.
In the time it takes to say
“voilà!” rooms emerge from
behind this makeshift magi-
cian’s screen. The outline of
a split-level home, with a
bedroom, bathroom and
study upstairs and a dining
room, kitchen and den
downstairs, springs into ma-
terial existence.
Sobelle and six other cast
members (Sophie Borto-
lussi, Justin Rose, Jennifer

Kidwell, Ching Valdes-Aran,

Arlo Petty and musician-

composer Elvis Perkins)

gracefully flesh out this

dwelling with fixtures and

furnishings. An area rug and

dining-room table turn a

building site into a home. A

toilet and sink hauled up-

stairs ballast illusion with

ceramic reality. Lives flicker

into view. The identities of

these inhabitants remain a

mystery. Are they related or

merely successive residents

of the same address? When

Sobelle and Petty share the

stage, is Sobelle’s figure see-

ing himself as a boy, raising a

son or merely coexisting in

different time lines?

The fluidity is a source of

this production’s power.

“Home” moves kaleido-

scopically. An enchanting

early sequence occurs after a

bed frame is brought up-

stairs. Turning in for the

night, Sobelle falls asleep

only to have another per-

former rise in the morning,

one life giving way to anoth-

er in a cycle most of us re-

main happily oblivious to

when brushing our teeth or

gathering up the recycling.

All the world’s a stage,

and every house is a set

wherein individuals enact

their private dramas. “In the

unrecorded moment you

star in / your own life,”

Perkins intones in one of his

moody folk elegies that pro-

vide a Bob Dylan-esque

wave for the production to

ride on. Sobelle isn’t as flam-

boyantly acrobatic as he was

in “The Object Lesson,” the

piece about archives and

memory that he performed

to the Kirk Douglas Theatre

in 2015. But he similarly in-

corporates audience mem-

bers into the show.

My companion was en-

listed and, before I knew it,

this sedate mother of three

was partying onstage with

cast members in a series of

festivities that eventually

had her donning a Santa

Claus suit. (Let the record

show that this uncredited

performer was a sunshiny

delight.)

This conscripting of the-

atergoers may seem like a

gimmick, but the more

populous the production be-

comes, the more moving its

effect. It’s not the decor, af-

ter all, that gives a house its

soul, but the people who are

welcomed into the space

and the relationships that

make history worth remem-

bering. I’ve lived in five

places since I moved to Los

Angeles in 2005, and though

my current home is near the

previous four and I pur-

posely drive past them when

nearby, I never think about

the residents who have sup-

planted me. What draws me

back are the personal mem-

ories these addresses pro-

voke and what compels me

to drive off is the reminder of

how easily one reality can be

packed away.

Prospero in “The Tem-

pest” makes an analogy be-

tween the “insubstantial

pageant” of theater and ex-

istence itself. Both are struc-

tured around entrances and

exits. Tenancy, as “Home”

stunningly illustrates, ob-

serves the same pattern.

When moving boxes ap-

pear, a melancholy perme-

ates the production. But the

feeling is more reflective

than sad. And the sublimity

of the theatrical presenta-

tion is a cause for joy.

The staging, exploiting

every removable facet of

Steven Dufala’s nimble sce-

nic design, is itself a miracu-

lous vanishing act. Christo-

pher Kuhl’s lighting subtly

shades our emotional expe-

rience, Steve Cuiffo’s illu-

sion design releases us into

the surreal, Brandon Wol-

cott’s sound design chatters

suggestively in the absence

of a spoken script and David

Neumann’s choreography

allows the company to float.

It’s understandable to

have some trepidation going

to the theater right now. The

first thing I did after enter-

ing the Broad Stage was

wash my hands. But

“Home” is a tonic for the

mind, a lovely, lyrical dis-

traction from the

frightfulness of the news

that had me looking at my

surroundings more tenderly

when I returned home.

IN “HOME,”a two-story residence becomes a hive of daily activities. Performances of the touring show continue at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica through Sunday.

Photographs bySea Sloat

THEATER REVIEW

Every home is its own sort of stage

In Geoff Sobelle’s

visual poem of a play,

a house is built, then

filled with life. Daily

events are celebrated.

CHARLES McNULTY
THEATER CRITIC

SELECT AUDIENCEmembers are invited to the stage to participate as the play

cycles through festivities accompanying birthdays, weddings and other life events.

The plot and themes of
Frank Capra’s film “Meet
John Doe,” released in 1941,
feel startlingly pertinent to
America in 2020. A craven
plutocrat buys a city’s news-
paper, lays off its seasoned
journalists and repurposes it
as propaganda for his politi-
cal campaign — and the pub-
lic eats it up.
Writer-director Stephen
Sachs has relocated the mov-
ie’s scenario to contempo-
rary America in “Human In-
terest Story,” having its
world premiere at the Foun-
tain Theatre. Sachs, who co-
founded the Fountain and is
its co-artistic director, aligns
himself here with polemical
writers such as Ibsen and
Shaw, who used the stage as
a platform for social criti-
cism. “Human Interest
Story” is a thorough catalog
of the crises of our time and

an unstinting indictment of

the Trump administration.

The talented cast and in-

ventive design team, howev-

er, have a difficult time sell-

ing it. It’s not that the won-

derful actor Rob Nagle is

miscast as protagonist Andy

Kramer, a columnist for the

City Chronicle, but that he is

obliged to convey a variety of

competing motives and

traits from scene to scene.

It’s hard to get a handle on

the character.

Andy, a savvy master of

the media, struggles to draw

the only logical inference

from a straightforward con-

versation. Although he is

buffoonishly inept at reading

social cues when it suits the

plot, his long-suffering girl-

friend (Aleisha Force, bring-

ing a lot of verve to a thank-

less role) mocks him for his

tender heart, calling him an

“empathy addict.”

It isn’t clear what Andy is

trying to accomplish when he

kicks off the plot, as Barbara

Stanwyck’s character does in

“Meet John Doe,” by creating

fake news. After learning

that evil billionaire Harold

Cain (James Harper) has

bought the paper and laid off

half the newsroom, Andy

submits one last column: a

made-up letter from a home-

less woman, who signs her-

self Jane Doe and threatens

to commit suicide on July 4

as a protest against the

heartlessness of the city.

Stanwyck’s character in-

vents John Doe to get her job

back, but Andy’s goal in vio-

lating journalistic ethics re-

mains a mystery. His Jane

Doe letter goes viral, boost-

ing paper sales, but when his

editor (Matt Kirkwood) in-

vites him back to track down

the mysterious writer, Andy

hems and haws, looking so

guilty it’s hard to believe an

editor would fail to probe

even a little bit further.

Moments later, in the

park, Andy runs into an actu-

al homeless woman (Tanya

Alexander), who proves un-

cannily qualified to assume

the role of Jane Doe — down

to a background in print

journalism. Andy, in his slow-

on-the-uptake mode, doesn’t

put the pieces together, but

she eventually persuades

him to transform her into a

media darling.

Alexander does her best

to deliver a forceful, engaging

and relatable woman. But

then she storms into Cain’s

office to confront the new

owner about some fund mis-

appropriation, and he makes

her wait while he chews his

way through a detailed auto-

biographical soliloquy.

Harper’s take on the billion-

aire is entertaining. His bom-

bast really booms. But Al-

exander has to stand there

the whole time with her arms

folded, rolling her eyes, as if

her character forgot what

she came to say.

The production looks and

sounds spiffy: Scenic and

projection designer Matthew

G. Hill’s gorgeous, color-

drenched photographs of

city settings (magically free

of identifying details) effec-

tively ground the action, and

the original music by sound

designer Peter Bayne riffs

nicely on the syncopated

forced excitement of news-

cast intros. The supporting

actors, who include Richard

Azurdia and Tarina Pouncy,

have infectious fun with

many colorful bit parts. If

only the central characters

were as believable.

THEATER REVIEW

Today’s crises fill the pages of a newspaper tale

Too bad, then, that

so much of the new

play ‘Human Interest

Story’ is unbelievable.

THE FOUNTAINTheatre cast is led by Tanya Al-

exander and Rob Nagle. The run concludes April 5.

Jenny Graham

‘Human

Interest Story’

Where:Fountain Theatre,

5060 Fountain Ave.,

Los Angeles

When:8 p.m. Fridays and

Mondays, 2 and 8 p.m.

Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays;

ends April 5

Tickets:$25-$45

Info:(323) 663-1525,

FountainTheatre.com

Running time:2 hours,

30 minutes

By Margaret Gray

‘Home’

Where:The Broad Stage,

1310 11th St., Santa Monica

When:2 and 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday;

ends Sunday

Tickets:Start at $59

Info:(310) 434-3200,

thebroadstage.org

Running time:1 hour, 45

minutes (no intermission)