Review: DEMOLITION at Pacific Resident Theatre

Demolition is the world premiere of an engrossing, bold new dramedy by Matthew Letscher at Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice through October 20th.  This is a small-scale, intimate human story that feels like a slice of life, entertaining, touching, and deftly told with wildly abundant, delicious humor.  Mostly Demolition is a comedy, observant, delightful, laugh-out-loud funny.  There is a thoughtful drama lingering here too — slowly, astutely, whisper-quiet, unpeeling the skin of everyday things.

Demolition is a family story about a Michigan head contractor Chuck(Brian Letscher), his geeky teen son Paul (Ryan Foust), his church-obsessed wife June (Samantha Sloyan), and her ex boyfriend Doug (Keith Stevenson), who now works for the contractor along with his son.  They end up on a job site for the high-strung actuary Marcy (a truly glorious, unforgettable Melissa Bales), who is having hourly meltdowns over them ruining her perfect walnut floors.  What could possibly go wrong?

Playwright Mattew Letscher worked in his family’s construction business in the summers growing up.  There is a richness and vivid texture here that will be familiar to you if you have also spent time in the building trades or had the (mis)fortune of doing a massive amount of work on your house.  This is a tale of the kind of men who lose themselves in construction work, the hot-tempered, good-natured, shady, salt of the earth, bawdy, abrasive, devilish, sweet, scheming, open-book, good-hearted, generous, and no-good types you find with a chisel in one hand a cigarette or beer can in the other.  What is the salty, hard-won wisdom lurking behind their blow job jokes?

Demolition’s world-building is rich, especially impressive in the detail of the set and props, with extraordinary work from Jay Tyson.  It really feels like spending a couple hours with a construction crew on a project that is going south, in the midst of the kind of staggering twists and turns of family drama that can blow over in a second or blow up everything.

There is a gentle coming of age story at the heart of Demolition, nuanced and surprising and well-told, about a boy struggling to find his place in the world, with rich sensitivity and nuance in the performance by Ryan Foust.  There is also a bittersweet, small-town love story between two high school sweethearts who lost each other and ended up in lives they would never have imagined for themselves, with surprising vulnerability from Keith Stevenson, who excels equally here at tender, poignant drama and punchy, rough-around-the-edges comedy.

Performances, as I have to come to expect at Pacific Resident Theatre, are truly peerless, superb.  There is not a weak or false note in the whole cast, who work quiet magic on stage here.  Direction by Max Mayer is organic, fluid, sensitive, and comedically explosive.  I laughed so hard at Douglas Weston’s portrayal of a school bureaucrat who doesn’t want to deal with the latest school crisis because “SUMMERTIME!!” that other audience members actually turned around to stare at me.  That is how good Weston is in the role of Mr. France.  Keith Stevenson works quiet miracles as Doug.

Under the sublime artistic direction of Marilyn Fox, Pacific Resident Theatre is a magical place, doing luminous, exquisite productions of classics as well as exciting, bold new works.  I absolutely loved the cheeky, high-spirited, brilliant new world premiere comedy The Spy Who Went Into Rehab at the Pacific Resident Theatre, currently still playing.

Demolition is the kind of vibrant, full-bodied, fresh-voice new work you don't want to miss.

Demolition runs at Pacific Resident Theatre through October 20th.  Pacific Resident Theatre is located at 703 Venice Blvd, Venice, CA 90291.  Pacific Resident Theatre has some free parking in lots behind the theatre and free street parking nearby.  You can get tickets by calling (310) 822-8392 or clicking on the button below:

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