BWW Reviews: TERMINUS at Studio Theatre

I once saw a production of Samuel Beckett's play, Play, that featured three "urns" and as a young college student I had never seen something so remarkable before. It was odd and extraordinary, and while I don't remember much about that production, the visual has stayed with me for years.

Sunday evening I saw Studio Theatre's 2nd Stage production of Mark O'Rowe's Terminus, and I immediately thought of that. O'Rowe's somewhat grotesque poetically prosed piece is comprised of three unnamed characters who like those urns in Play talk directly to us. The difference here is that they are in monologue form and the three characters never interact with each other as their speaking.

Each of these monologues tell a story of one night in Dublin, and you realize through the story that these characters are intertwined. First out of the gate, "A", is a crisis hotline, played with verve by Nanna Ingvarsson. "A" has a tumultuous relationship with her daughter due to taking her boyfriend to bed, and her story trying to help one of her crisis calls, who is a pregnant former student of hers, is more about her reconnecting with her daughter.

The second character, "B", as we come to find is the daughter of "A", who is a young lonely woman who joins her friend in the pub and meets a guy, climbs up and crane, and as she is about to fall, the guy, we learn is a demon who has escaped hell and took someone's soul. Katie Ryan is remarkable as the forlorn "B". Ryan plays the character with a sadness that comes through beautifully.

The final character and strongest of the trio is Dylan Myers as "C", a serial killer who has sold his soul to the devil. Myers is impeccable as the conflict killer who has the look of evil in his eyes, and his stare as he delivers his monologues is fascinating and creepy.

The actors in this production are all very strong and for the most part they handle the wordy and rhyming dialogue with ease. The actors spend the entire almost two hours on stage, and navigate O'Rowe's heavy dialogue and Irish accent nearly flawless. Direct Tom Story did a remarkable job with the entire piece. The lack of moving was extremely effective, if not unnerving, and the way the actors used their words and face to tell the story is largely successful due to Story's direction.

The sparse design elements of the show added to the piece eerily and I love that every time I see a show in Stage 4, it's neat to see how they configure the space. Set designer Deborah Thomas' simple trashy set was perfect, and Adrian Rooney's sound and lights added to the atmosphere tremendously. I would give special commendation to costume designer Brandee Mathies for his dark gray costume choices, with each character having a splash of red.

Terminus is a wonderful, if not frightening, story of finality. O'Rowe weaves this tale like a modern day Beckett and writes in a rhytmic pattern that feels free form. Pay close attention to the detail of the dialogue as there is a lot to digest, but it is worth it.

Terminus plays through January 4, 2015 at 2nd Stage at Studio Theatre, 1501 14th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005

Box Office: (202) 332-3300, or purchase them online.

Photo Credit: Teddy Wolff

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