BWW Reviews: Crossbow Theatre Company's SOMEWHERE is Still Searching

Michael dies in a car crash that he calmly describes in explicit detail in the opening monologue of Antony J. Bowman's SOMEWHERE. The chilling memory sets up what we think will be a thought-provoking exploration of one man's journey after death. Instead, Bowman's play detours into more familiar territory that examines the thoughts and confessions of those who remain behind as Michael, played by Josh T. Ryan, offers up stories and flashbacks that form the narrative framework of the play. These episodes, threaded throughout, fill in the back story like extended exposition which Ryan handles naturally and with a great deal of charm.

When we meet him, Michael is stuck somewhere in between worlds, appearing in his Manhattan apartment just as his wife and friends arrive home after his funeral. There, unseen by the others, he listens as they pick apart his character and criticize his behavior when he was alive, while lobbing plenty of pot shots at each other's expense.

His wife, Vivian (Kristen Hansen), complains about the long hours he kept at work and the time dedicated to a brother with special needs (Willy Romano-Pugh as Albert) which she felt interfered with their relationship. Russell (Amir Khalighi), his bitchy gay business partner, takes swipes at his lack of business acumen dismissing him as merely an architect and the reason their firm is now failing. Nikki (Tammy Minoff), the young, attractive office assistant everyone assumes Michael was having an affair with admits she was secretly in love with him but they never slept together, and Claudia (Melissa Kite), Michael's sophisticated but jaded confidante reveals that though she once had a relationship with him in college, it was Vivian she was actually interested in. Poor Albert is simply trying to dodge all the cross fire. (spoilers ahead)

The problem is, Michael already knows he wasn't a good husband. He knows his business partner is looking out only for himself, and he even admits to knowing that Nikki was in love with him. The only thing he doesn't know is that after trying for a very long time without success, his wife is finally pregnant. Vivian talks about trying to have a baby early on in the play and when she leaves the room to get sick to her stomach shortly thereafter it becomes obvious to the audience that she is pregnant long before she tells the others.

It would appear that all of these revelations are leading to a turning point for Michael but that isn't where this story goes. While the play centers around him, in the end, it isn't for him. The purpose his journey seems to serve is to tell his wife that it isn't her time to die when she has a miscarriage late in the play. The switch happens so quickly however that it left me feeling like I'd been caring about the wrong person's journey. There is no indication that her life would be endangered by a pregnancy at any point so the situation feels contrived. By this time we are firmly invested in what happens to Michael, and since Vivian has spent much of the first act in the land of bitter, it is difficult to now shift focus to caring about what will happen to her.

Director Jeanie Drynan grounds the play in a naturalism that keeps it intimate. Ryan is excellent in the role of Michael, an instantly likable soul who knows he's made a lot of mistakes. As written, we don't get to see his less desirable characteristics while alive but the small scenes that show his love for his brother Albert are a touching portrait of the simple connection that can exist between two people who are paying attention.

Kite and Khalighi also deliver subtle distinctions in their characters that move them into much more interesting territory that goes well beneath the surface. Kite's feistiness covers real regret and Khalighi's venomous remarks form a passive-aggressive facade that is slowly crumbling away. It is detailed and honest work from the "Brutus and Medea" of the piece.

Edward Salas' intuitive sound design and musical selections have an uncanny way of lifting the subtext so it lingers in the background and works on your senses without stealing focus. Nikki Eva Kentor (set design), Brian Barraza (lighting design) and Katie Jorgenson (wardrobe designer) believably create the sophistication of modern day New York.

"This is the void where you make sense of your life," says Michael when he realizes that he is in a holding pattern. That statement could also be applied to the stages of bringing a new play to life. SOMEWHERE has already received developmental workshops in Manhattan, Sydney and London before coming to LA but it still feels like it is a work in progress. In a talk piece like this where the story centers around what people say rather than what they do, clarity is doubly important. And while I'm not entirely certain what the takeaway was meant to be, I'm sure it's out there somewhere.

SOMEWHERE
September 19 - October 26, 2014
The Crossbow Theatre Company at Meta Theatre
7801 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90046
www.somewheretheplay.com

Pictured above: Kristen Hansen and Josh T. Ryan. Photo credit: Nikki Eva Kentor

Josh T. Ryan as Michael

Josh T. Ryan, Amir Khalighi, Melissa Kite and Tammy Minoff

Melissa Kite as Claudia

Josh T. Ryan and Kristen Hansen

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