A hobo who has dropped
out of society and is content to live under a highway overpass receives an
invitation to a luxury mansion.
There he meets a number of wealthy and
apparently successful people – the owner, his elegant wife, his hedonistic
daughter, a cynical manservant and finally an invalid locked in the attic.
All
bombard him with their theories of the meaning of life but, being a man who
wants nothing, they cannot seduce him by any means. This leads to imagined
murder, sexual fantasies and finally the confrontation with his deeply hidden regrets
and desires. When he discovers that he wants the luxurious life offered it
becomes the signal for his downfall. The message is that desire corrupts and
true freedom is lost when we learn to want.
Told in a series of
blackouts, with sounds of thunder and perhaps gunfire to emphasize the oncoming
threat, author-director Chris Kelley keeps us almost as hypnotized throughout
as is his hero. Illustrating this bitter statement on our own culture’s
obsession with ownership, Darrett Sanders is the confounded hero, Joe Mahon is his
more easily manipulated friend, Doug Burch is the cynical mogul, Chantelle
Albers his dissolute wife, Erin Fleming is the demanding daughter, Carl J.
Johnson the bemused paterfamilias and Alexis DeLaRosa the ambitious servant.
At Theatre of Note, 1517
N Cahuenga Blvd, Hollywood. Through Oct 24. Tickets: 323-856-8611 or www.theatreofnote.com
Photos by James Olsen
& John Kenower.
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