by Marcus Kaye~

Procreation takes a long, hard look at a dysfunctional family and the issues with, you guessed it, procreation. Directed by David Schweizer and written by Justin Tanner, Procreation is a troubled, crowded piece of theater.

The production was troubled from the get go. Originally set to open in New York City (where producers Linda Toliver and Gary Guidinger had previously run a theatre for 22 years) the venue fell through and instead of canceling the show, Procreation moved to The Odyssey in Los Angeles.

Procreation tells the story of Hope, as she throws a party for her recently sober mother, Ruby. With Hope’s equally alcoholic family in town, the stage is set for disaster. The premise is interesting, essentially staging an intervention in which an alcoholic family confronts their sober mother. The premise, however, is all but abandoned for the sake of “dysfunction.” Between gay affairs, hoarding, drugs and pregnancy among the elderly, Procreation leaves no family dysfunction out. The result is a convoluted and cluttered melodramatic comedy without focus. Each of Hope’s family members is given his or her own problems, which, instead of fueling the central story line, take away from it. The focus shifts from character to character so much that it leaves the entire play feeling empty and disjointed. Instead of fully realizing the family’s issues, Tanner throws in new characters to distract from actually resolving conflict.

Hope and Ruby, who don’t get along, each lament the troubles of parenting, agreeing that no matter how hard you try as a parent, your result will ultimately fall short of expectations. This theme related to Procreation more than they knew. For no matter how hard they tried, the play fell short. Their child disappoints.

The direction by Schweizer is simple, which is justified giving how much is going on in the plot. While he excels in the physical jokes and stage movement, Schweizer direction falls short when it comes to character work.

Much of the comedy comes from Kody Matchelor who plays Hope’s son, Gavin, who, at the age of 15, is grappling with his sexuality, still wetting the bed, and horribly overweight. The character, while young, is written like an adult and Matchelor seamlessly delivers the wry and sarcastic lines of dialogue. Melissa Denton’s Hope is the most grounded and relatable character. Denton is also the strongest actress of the piece, creating a character that feels like a mom you might have grown up with. The others in the cast, however, perform flat characters; often overacting to make up for the lack of emotional depth.

Procreation walks a fine line between being relevant and being timeless, missing the mark on both. References to things in current pop culture (like “OctoMom”) are just frequent enough to make Procreation contemporary, but so fleeting that they provide little, if any commentary about modern society.

Also fleeting are the sparse mentions of location. While this could be Middle America, Procreation takes place in Los Angeles. You’d never know it though, had they not thrown out quick shout-outs to Ventura and Silverlake. Ultimately, what’s left is a desire to either leave the location completely up in the air, or make a commitment to the fact that it takes place in LA.

Set and lighting design by Gary Guidinger was strong. He naturally captured the image of a disaster of a house, creating a mess that didn’t at all feel staged. Aside from a slight technical glitch, sound design by Kristian Hoffman was also on point.

Procreation plays Fridays at 8 pm, Saturdays at 7 pm & 9:30 pm and Sundays at 7 pm. The show opened on Friday, July 16 and will run through Sunday, August 15, 2010.

The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble is located at 2055 South Sepulveda Boulevard (between Santa Monica Blvd. and Olympic Blvd.) in Los Angeles, 90025.

Ticket prices: $25.00 for Friday nights, and $30.00 Saturdays and Sundays.

Reservations online at www.odysseytheatre.com or by phone at 310-477-2055.