In this brilliant
new play, by Rob Mersola, a naïve teenage boy goes to live with his grandmother
and is given his absent father’s old room. He meets a bold young woman and
brings her to his room where she introduces him to the imaginative joys of sex. For a few months he shyly discovers his appetite for sexual play with or
without a partner. Then, to his horror, he discovers all his bedroom antics are
being viewed publicly on the internet.
This sounds like an
amusing concept, and in a way it is, but it’s also an indictment of our modern
obsession with exhibitionism and the sad loss of privacy. There’s not a false
note in this play, each character is complex and totally believable, but the
author lays bare the cynicism of our age and how innocence can be just another
product to be exploited.
Nick Marini is
touching as the guileless Luka; Sarah Scott is dynamite as the uninhibited
Angie; Alex Fernandez is exuberant as encouraging Uncle Nick; Joanna Lipari is moving
as befuddled Grandma Franca, and Vince Melocchi is disquieting as Luka’s
formidable Dad.
Peerless direction by Joshua Bitton, with choice casting by
Victoria Hoffman. Excellent set by
John Iacovelli, lighting by Leigh Allen, projection design by Nicholas
Santiago, sound by Christopher Moscatiello and costumes by Michèle Young.
Awesome fight scene by Ned Mochel. Produced by John Perrin Flynn and Jen
Pollono for Rogue Machine.
At Rogue Machine Theatre,
5041 West Pico Blvd, LA, through Sept 20. Tickets: (855) 585-5185 or www.roguemachinetheatre.com
Photos by John Perrin Flynn
Also reviewed in
the September issue of NOT BORN YESTERDAY.
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