The Queen (Janis DeLucia) and The King (Lasse Christiansen) discuss plans for building the maze. Photos by Pak Han
A MAZE: Drama by Rob Handel. Directed by Molly Aaronson-Gelb. Just Theater, Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley, CA. Two hours, 20 minutes. (510) 214-3780 or www.justtheater.org.
Through March 9, 2014
A MAZE fascinates in Just Theatre’s production on Shotgun’s Ashby Stage. [rating:5] (5/5 Stars)
Bring your thinking cap with you when you go to see A Maze that is being given a second mounting on Shotgun’s Ashby Stage after a critically acclaimed three week run at the out-of the way Live Oak Theatre. Lis Lisle Managing Director at Shotgun astutely recognized that it was a perfect fit to match the eclectic work their company. If you missed it the first time around, as this reviewer did, you now have the chance to enter the labyrinths created by author Rob Handel and ushered to the stage by Molly Aaronson-Gelb.
It certainly was not an easy task to take a non-linear play with 25 plus blackout scenes and three different storylines that inter-mesh over a 10 year period and create an engrossing intelligible evening. All is not perfect with the construction but these are minor faults and can be overlooked. Add to this a storybook King (Lasse Christiansen) who continual builds a labyrinth (a maze of course) to protect his Queen (Janis DeLucia) and daughter from the outside world or is it to keep her imprisoned?
The catalyst for the intertwining stories is Jessica (Frannie Morrison) a 17 year girl who was abducted at age 7 and kept prisoner for nine years. She has walked away from her captor, willing to be interviewed by Kim (Lauren Spencer) a national TV talk-show host who is astounded by Jessica’s desire to be “that famous child who was abducted from the super-market” explicitly suggesting “blame the victim syndrome.”
In quick succession the shift is to the Desert Palms Rehab Center where “Pathetic Fallacy” rock band super-star Paul (Harold Pierce) is being encouraged by his girlfriend and song writer Oksana (Sarah Mosher) to break his habit and to recreate his genius. While there Paul meets and befriends Beeson (played brilliantly by Clive Worsley) a cartoon-artist-author who is forever working on a story that already has over 1500 pages (with lots and lots of crosshatching) and is a cult sensation. The King and Queen of the aforementioned labyrinth are characters in his story.
The three major characters are trapped in their figurative mazes and intricately the mazes interlock with an ending that is a zinger. All this plays out on a fantastic black and white set (Martin Flynn) with lines suggesting multiple maze configurations. Along the way there are intellectual comments about artist having idiosyncratic natures and should we separate the creation from the personal defects of the artist.
Advice: Do not miss this performance two hour and 20 minute (with intermission) that will keep you riveted.
Kedar Adour, MD
Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazince.com
