Interview: Actor & Producer Dennis Mashevsky Talks COMPLETENESS

Dennis Mashevsky (pictured) is producing the premiere of Completeness at Los Angeles’ brand new Eastwood Performing Arts Center, opening Friday, September 20, 2024. Directed by Angela M. Bruning, this nerdy rom-com play is about the leaps of faith in a new relationship between two hyper-intelligent scientists, which don’t come easily to either of them. After all, life is not only about scientific facts!

I decided to speak with Dennis about why he decided to present the play, written by Tony-winning playwright Itamar Moses, and what it was about the brand-new Eastwood Performing Arts Center that attracted him to select the space.

Thanks, Dennis, for speaking with me today. For readers who don’t know you, please tell me about yourself and your acting/producing background. 

I am a Ukrainian American actor from Palo Alto, California who studied at the Playwrights' Horizons Theater School from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. I studied acting, playwriting, and project leadership. I produced plays at the Robert Moss Theater and Dixon Place in New York City. I have starred in three short films while continuously acting in plays and scenes at my acting studio, Crash Acting. My mission is to connect audiences to a sense of wonder through performance and stories.  I now live in Los Angeles. I write weird plays and original songs, and recently appeared as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet.

It’s been a powerful year. I announced this play in the press, celebrated a year of sobriety, climbed Mt. Whitney, said goodbye to my childhood cat, became a vegetarian, and got to know who I really am. I’m constantly surrounded by unreasonably talented people.

Dennis Mashevsky and Sarah Sawyer portray Elliott and Molly in Completeness. Photo credit: H. R. Kean

Tell me about your studio Crash Acting.

We are taught a non-dominant approach to acting, with the premise being that you treat your character how you would treat a person in real life. So, no trying to figure them out, imposing an objective on them, or imposing your opinion of how they should feel and behave. I clicked with it right off the bat. It’s basic respect, but because there’s no actual other person it can get weird and séance-y, which I like.

The integration aspect of it is the thing that really works for me. I can’t magically feel something other than what I am feeling. Nor do I want to. So, the move is to make what I am feeling work for me by finding a cause in the text as to why I might feel how I feel, and replacing my own narrative for the sensation with something from the script.

There seems to always be a cause for whatever I am feeling - in any script. It’s weird. When I can accept what I am already feeling as good and belonging (by finding a reason in the script for the feeling), then I can get magically swept away in the beliefs, expectations, fantasies, and other given circumstances. Also, it’s super cheap to put on our plays and stuff so I can put it into practice.

Which of your own plays or songs have been produced?

When I stopped acting for a couple months, I played a few songs I wrote at a bar in Silverlake – music is more of a hobby and a mental health practice. I produced my plays in college and at Dixon Place. I produced a staged reading at Crash.

Dennis Mashevsky and Sarah Sawyer portray Elliot and Molly during an awkward, intimate moment. Photo credit: H. R. Kean

In which of Greenwald’s films do you appear?

From The Lives of Boys, about two men grieving a friend and becoming teenagers again, and People Like You and Me, about a guy trying to convince a girl to follow him out of her job interview.

Where was the production of Romeo and Juliet done in which you played Tybalt? And are you an accomplished fencer or were knives used for his big fight with Mercutio?

At Crash Acting, and at the Madnani Theatre for the Hollywood Fringe. It was a modern take, so we used retractable knives.

You mention you are of Ukrainian descent, as am I. Were you or your parents born in Ukraine? And if so, when did the family move to Palo Alto?

My family all immigrated from Ukraine to Israel in 1991 to escape antisemitism as well as wanting new economic opportunities. Then in 1995, they moved from Israel to California, and I was the first person in my family born in America.

What led you to discover the Eastwood Performing Arts Center?

It’s a fun story. I am a cashier at Trader Joe’s and I went to audition for a play in the space. I didn’t get the role, but I recognized the person I was acting opposite in the audition as a customer at the store. They then invited me to their mixer and I just stuck around way too long because I’m clingy.

Don digging into Molly after their student-teacher hookup ends. Ron Laskowski and Sarah Sawyer. Photo credit: H. R. Kean

I really appreciate what Calvin, the building manager, and his team did with the theatre. It was a broken-down building and they rebuilt it and now it’s this thriving artsy beautiful building in East Hollywood. It’s always inspiring to see people fight for theatre, which gives so many people a safe space to grow and be seen.

Do you still work as a cashier at Trader Joe’s when not involved with plays?

Yes. I work there full-time during the plays. My coworkers are some of the most supportive people I’ve ever encountered as an artist. They always show up.

Do you see yourself continuing to produce plays or strictly focus on acting?

Everyone I know wants a job. If I can pull this off and prove myself capable of generating this kind of work, then maybe the most helpful thing to do for the industry I find myself in is to produce more. I can see myself producing more, and possibly starting a company. 

Rachel Zapata as Lauren.
Photo credit: H. R. Kean

Have you ever worked on any of playwright Itamar Moses’ plays before?  And if not, what made you want to present his play Completeness?

I did a scene from The Four of Us in class, but that’s it.

Over time I fell in love with the problem of the play. The kind of ruthless mess we find ourselves in, where we must choose a person or two. To guess without meeting even the tiniest fraction of the possible options. When it’s so easy to get hurt. And yet, it’s magical if you think about it. Even given this statistical catastrophe, there are happy couples.

As a producer, it’s not hard to sell to donors or to an audience. Sarah, who plays Molly, called it a nerdy rom-com – I stuck with that immediately. Who doesn’t want to see that? It’s a small cast with nothing too crazy in the tech. Felt like a good bet for a first producing risk.

I had this thought during the process after reading five books on relationships and even taking a class: “God this relationship business seems like so much work. And dangerous work. Can someone please just show me that it’s worth it?” Then it clicked – maybe that’s kind of our job, as artists. To show that it can be cute. And fun. And weird. And sweet. And worth trying.

Then after I met the people at Eastwood, I just saw a bunch of open doors and decided to impulsively walk through them.

Tell me about the storyline in Completeness.

The play follows graduate students Elliot and Molly, a computer scientist and a molecular biologist, who harshly disentangle themselves from their situationships and attempt to orient toward each other instead. Elliot is working on the Traveling Salesman Problem, a famous computer science problem that tackles the most effective way to find the shortest possible distance between any number of points before returning home. Molly is working on protein-protein interactions to discover how and why cells heal – or stop healing.

Elliott and Molly's tender, playful moment.
Dennis Mashevsky and Sarah Sawyer
Photo credit: H. R. Kean

After Elliot and Molly leave a nerdy meet-cute in a computer lab with a plan to see each other again, Elliot goes to work writing Molly a useful program that helps her interpret her scientific data better. When they meet, the disguise of education melts away and they fall for each other. But as the relationship grows more serious, Elliot’s struggle with commitment and Molly’s pain from past heartache brings their relationship into question.

Do you have a scientific background or does the playwright to be able to write with authority on those subjects?

No. I don’t think the playwright does either. He only has a Tony. But my Dad, cousins, and uncle are all software engineers. My mother is an accountant, and my grandmother ran a chemistry lab in Ukraine. I’m pretty weird in my family for doing what I’m doing.

Besides producing the play, what drew you to play Elliot in the production?

When I first read this play years ago during the pandemic, I was envious of Elliot. He’s smart. He’s confident, but not stereotypically. He’s at the top of his game in his field, and is comfortable around women and making his intentions and desires known – yet he’s still charming and nerdy. I really clicked with his unique brand of awkwardness.

Dennis Mashevsky as Elliott
Photo credit: H. R. Kean

The parallels between the science and the relationships were unnervingly clever – the reviews mostly say the science is too much for the audience, but I feel that the play has everything the audience needs. It just needs a capable translator. I liked the challenge.

Looking at the world through Elliot’s eyes, I learned so much about myself and how I function in relationships – which was such an amazing way to process all the new information I was gathering in sobriety. I wanted to wear Elliot’s metaphorical glasses for a little longer, and see what the world looks like through them. I learned an unbelievable amount about my own behavior.

I know you workshopped the play earlier this year. Did any of the actors in the current production (Sarah Sawyer, Rachel Zapata, & Ron Laskowski) appear in it with you? And if so, how did you meet them?

The cast, director, and designers are people I put together from Crash Acting and friends. We did a run of the show at our acting studio. I knew it would go well, because those shows always go well, and I wanted to use that production as an off-ramp to something bigger, because the excitement for those shows never ends when the shows end.

Relationship issues are so universal, aren’t they? So what do you hope audiences will be talking about after seeing the play?

They sure are! I think we can all relate to wanting to be closer or farther away from each other, and hurting or getting hurt by people. I hope they’ll catch something in their own relationships. Something they’ve been avoiding. Something they haven’t appreciated in a while. I hope they are reminded of a past relationship. Or maybe they become aware of a desire for something or someone. Something unique for them.

Sarah Sawyer as Molly
Photo credit: H. R. Kean

What’s up next for you after this production ends?

Understanding my path as a producer. Also, my friends asked me to write a screenplay for their new production company.

That’s exciting! Anything else you’d like to share about yourself and/or the play?

Please, come to the play. In fact, to any play! This industry is kept alive by passion and tradition. It makes no economic sense, yet we can’t get rid of it. Like most things we avoid, it has the most to teach us. Turn toward it. If you’re a theatre maker, remember – other people want you to attend their shows as much as you want them to attend yours. Our job is not just to sell tickets – it’s to remind the culture of the value in gathering around the fire for a story. 

Thanks so much! Break legs with your production!

Completeness by Tony-winning playwright Itamar Moses opens September 20 for six performances only at the brand-new Eastwood Performing Arts Center, 1089 N Oxford Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90029. Tickets are $20, available at: https://eastwoodpac.stagey.net/projects/11116?tab=details or on Stage 411 at https://tinyurl.com/47bnpt6v

THE CREATIVE TEAM

Playwright – Itamar Moses

Director - Angela Bruning

Producer/Elliot - Dennis Mashevsky

Molly - Sarah Sawyer

Lauren/Nell - Rachel Zapata

Don/Franklin - Ron Laskowski

Stage Manager: Fiona Farris

Set Design 1: Lana Dvorak

Set Design 2: Anj Sheen

Costume Design: Scarlett Dyer

Lighting Design: Jacob Nguyen

Sound Design: Javier Busquet

Intimacy Director: Emilia Ray

Publicist:  SANDRA KUKER PR (Sandra Kuker-Franco)

Photography: H. R. Kean

Poster and Web Design: Todd Smailes

Building Manager Eastwood Performing Arts Center: Calvin Picou

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