by Geoff Hoff

Upon entering the Art/Work Theatre, the audience is confronted by a very evocative set - three beds, one a small, messy single, surrounded by black-light posters, photographs and other accoutrement that seem transported to modern time by any disenfranchised radical from any year from 1967 forward. Under it are many, many books, suggesting an intelligent occupant. The second bed is a small double, slightly askew. A young couple perhaps? The third, upstage, is a hospital bed, cold, sterile, behind which are rows and rows of “Power Saving” lightbulbs. There is also a gash cut through several of the walls with strange, thin light shining through.

None of these details necessarily clued me in to what the play was about, (I do not tend to read the press releases or any reviews before seeing a play, I want a completely fresh experience) but they instantly set my mind in gear. With such attention to detail, I was anticipating a very good night at the theatre. I was not disappointed.

The story is of a family, dysfunctional, obviously, but what has happened in it is a mystery for some time. Nothing radical or new, dysfunctional families are a mainstay of American theatre. However, even after it is revealed, the audience is never quite sure who is telling the truth about what. About anything. What makes this story special is that every person in it is real and grounded and complex. No one (with the possible exception of the mother in the hospital bed) is an archetype. They all find humor and pain and anger and confusion and even love and express it all in deliciously skewed ways.

This play, written by Keith Bridges, was developed in workshops over several months, which is almost unheard of in theatre anymore, especially theatre in Los Angeles. It was produced by the Mutineer Theatre Company, a new, “nomadic” company consisting of visual artists, actors, composers, writers, etc., etc. All of the actors are exceptional, the shining standout being Amber Hamilton playing the younger daughter Susan, who has some very daring moments that most young actors would have performed as if to say, “Aren’t I brave.” She just performs them as the next moment in her life.

Christian Labano plays Stan, the father, charming, dark, confrontational, bitter, loving, if in a very warped way. Taylor Coffman is Carla, the older daughter, estranged for some time from mother and father until her mother’s incapacitating brain tumor brings her reluctantly back home. Joh Cohn plays Ian, Carla’s confused boyfriend, who met her while making a documentary about her profession - sexual “therapist” to physically and mentally challenged men - who accompanies her on her trip home and is jostled by the events as they unfold. He is, however, by no means a complete innocent. The mother, Deanna, is played by Emily Morrison.

The set for Lie With Me was by Davis Campbell, sound and music by James Richter. The lighting was by Matt Richter and costumes by Amy Schloerb. It was exceedingly well staged by Joe Banno, down to the movement in the scene changes that helped tell the story rather than stop the proceedings as do scene changes in much of LA Theatre.

I wonder if this company can continue to produce such exceptional theatre, can continue to risk the time workshopping takes. I wonder if these actors will stay with it and help it grow into something unique. I certainly hope so. If not, however, it is good that they came together for this production.

The play is performed Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 7 pm through Sunday, April 5^th, 2009.

Art/Works Theatre is located at 6569 Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, CA, 90038, just east of Highland

Ticket prices: $18.00 with discounts for Seniors and Students.

Reservations online at http://www.plays411.com/liewithme or by phone at (323) 960-7787