Atwater Village Theatre Presents Tom Jacobson's House of the Rising Son

House of the Rising Son
by Tom Jacobson
directed by Michael Michetti
Atwater Village Theatre
through May 29

Playwright Tom Jacobson has always been fascinated by travel through time and the effect of exotic places on erotic behavior, exhibited in such fine detail in Bunbury and Ouroboros. Now in House of the Rising Son at the Atwater Village Theatre, science and art collide within the lives of three generations, as two gay men explore the destiny of homosexuality in present day Los Angeles and New Orleans. Tinged with touches of gothic mystery and science fiction, it's a complex atmosphere that leaves one perplexed, intrigued and hopelessly enticed.

At the beginning of Act I, the scene shifts rather quickly from the Museum of Natural History and a lecture on Parasitology to several Hollywood graveyards and the search for ghosts. Two gay men, one a parasitologist Trent Varro (Paul Witten) and the other an author of books on ghost phenomena Felix (Steve Coombs) meet quite unexpectedly - like many gay encounters - when Felix attends one of Trent's seminars, is attracted to him and proceeds to seduce him. The two spend an intriguing night in cemeteries and before you know it, they're off to New Orleans to meet Trent's family. The architect father Garrett Varro (Patrick John Hurley) and poet grandfather Bowen (Rod Menzies)* live together, as Bowen is dying of prostate cancer and Garrett is his caretaker. What follows about the relationships between Bowen and Garrett and Garrett and Trent and the plan for Trent and Felix is by Act I's finale shocking, disturbing and unbelievably riveting. In Act II a murder occurs and how the others react to it and connect to each other is the heart and soul of the play.

Jacobson's plot twists never cease; nothing is as it initially seems. While playing around with the supernatural, nothing is natural, nor is there ever as dull moment, and with Michetti's meticulous direction and the ensemble's finely tuned chemistry, the piece, like a seance, takes flight and is constantly in flux. One interesting point is that each of the four men get to play another smaller role with Coomb's hustler Tod becoming key to the finale, but Witten's Maureen practically meaningless to the overall picture. The other two played by Hurley and Menzies add color and further eccentricity to the off-center decadent ambiance. Jacobson's use of "mendacity" a Tennessee Williams term repeated over and over by Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and references to a black Blanche Du Bois from Steetcar named Noire Du Bois add rich comic undertones and are typical in Jacobson's plays. Anyone who has seen Bunbury knows of his obsession with the classics and creating changes of his very own within the various plays.

Witten, Coombs, Hurley and Menzies are all terrific, never going too far, but rather underplaying emotions, allowing the rhythms of the play to propel them in appropriate directions. Menzies may be the exception, as his articulate Bowen has the semblance of arrogance and always being "on", but this quality also seems to be built naturally into the showiness of the role. Richard Hoover's wonderfully quaint and dilapidated set design, Jeremy Pivnick's subdued lighting and Bruno Louchouarn's eerie music and sound design are all first-rate.

This is not Jacobson's greatest play by a long shot, nor does it come close, but because of its many levels and layers and its theatrically mesmerizing unpredictability, it is certainly fascinating to watch. My greatest appreciation is for giving the gay man, who may seem a parasite to many, a positive light. He is a living breathing soul, who deserves a positive place within a family structure regardless of how bizarre and fantastical that framework may be. House of the Rising Son definitely merits a visit.

visit:

http://www.ensemblestudiotheatrela.org

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