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EVIDENCE ROOM & ODYSSEY THEATRE

PRESENT

Len Jenkin’s

MARGO VEIL

Dorie Barton – Margo Veil and others

Daniel Bess – Arthur Vine and others

Lauren Campedelli – Vivian Clay and others

Liz Davies – Professor Helen Ahriman and others

Tom Fitzpatrick – Edgar LeStrange and others

Colleen Kane – Big Betty and others

Jeremy Shranko – Cardano and others

Brittany Slattery – Ruta and others

Don Oscar Smith – Hy Hepstein and others

 

Director – Bart DeLorenzo

Scenic Designer – Keith Mitchell

Lighting Designers – Lap Chi Chu

Costume Designer – Ann Closs-Farley

Sound Designer – John Zalewski

Choreographer – Lili Fuller

Music Director – John Ballinger

Assistant Director - Joanna Syiek

Stage Manager – Jennifer Palumbo

Assistant Stage Manager – Beth Mack

Producers – Beth Hogan and Bart DeLorenzo

 

Graphic Design – Fred Baxter

 

June 8 – August 14, 2011

Los Angeles Times

“All my memories feel like guests arriving at the wrong parties,” complains one of the characters lost in the funhouse hall of mirrors that is Len Jenkin’s Margo Veil. One likely reason: They’re not her memories.

 

The illusory nature of personal identity lies at the heart of Jenkins’ intricate, entertaining mash-up of old-time radio melodramas, noir thrillers and futuristic sci-fi, staged with skill, vigor and atmosphere in a superbly synergistic co-production from Evidence Room and Odyssey Theatre Ensemble.

 

Recurring fragments of imagery, dialogue, characters and songs link multiple interlocking stories as the play’s eponymous heroine jumps from life to life through an outlawed technology enabling “accurate body transfer” (a conceit allowing eight talented actors to each assume multiple roles). From her initial incarnation as a sultry aspiring actress (Dorie Barton) whose one-night career ended with a Broadway flop, she becomes a blind Lithuanian peasant girl (Brittany Slattery) who captures the amorous attentions of rival magicians (Daniel Bess, Jeremy Shranko), and then a Midwestern acting teacher (Lauren Campedelli) valiantly trying to separate illusion from reality. A fellow “jumper” incarnates as a caddish author (Bess) and a hammy veteran thespian (Tom Fitzpatrick) who confuses his homicidal role with his true self (or his self of the moment).

 

The tales-within-tales structure is a perfect fit for director Bart DeLorenzo, who consistently rises to intellectual challenges and honors playwright Jenkins’ love of storytelling in its myriad forms (including the amusingly over-the-top second-person “you are there” narration favored by radio plays).

 

Because these stories connect more through dreamlike associations than linear rationality, interpretation becomes highly subjective. My take is that the whole piece unfolds in the dream life of an unseen character referenced at different times as “Sherry,” who might be a failed actress projecting herself into Margo (à la David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive); or, she may be a more ancient weaver of stories. The fun lies in making your own sense of the dizzying array of clues, regardless of whether the puzzle is ultimately solvable.  – Philip Brandes

 

 

Laist

It shouldn’t be a surprise that a new show by Evidence Room is excellent, considering the group’s history. For more than a decade the troupe has been one of the most well-respected companies in Los Angeles, winning awards and garnering nominations by the score. Regardless of all this, I was surprised and delighted at how fantastic their new show (a co-production with Odyssey Theatre Ensemble), the West Coast premiere of Margo Veil, is. It’s a demonstration of what happens when wild inspiration meets up with sheer craft, a palindromic fever dream of a production from a group that is clearly still at the top of its game. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

 

Veil is more about the power of stories themselves than one overarching plot, with one tale effortlessly transitioning into another in a roundelay of creation. A group of people are sitting in a dark hotel lobby as explosions take place nearby, and the radio is turned on for distraction, presenting the noir-ish drama of Margo Veil (Dorie Barton). Margo's an actress on tour with a bad play, having a fling with the playwright, the cold Arthur Vine (Daniel Bess). Arthur’s fond of using a service from Big Betty (Colleen Kane) that allows a person to transfer bodies, which he and Margo do. Margo inhabits a blind girl in Lithuania, Ruta (Brittany Slattery), and Arthur becomes the famed actor Edgar LeStrange (Tom Fitzpatrick), who loses his memory but remembers his most famous role--a poisoner. And did I mention the mysterious flying owl totem?

 

Veil is an true ensemble piece, and the unique nature of the plot, with all the body-shifting, not only allows every actor to shine but also allows most of them to be the lead for a while. Barton plays Margo with just the right degree of insouciant charm, as if the character knows she’s in a noir film or something equally unreal and thus isn’t overly worried about the consequences. Bess is memorable as the unfortunate magician Mortmain, employing a believable Eastern European accent and a certain gravitas that gains the audience’s sympathy. Kane applies comedic virtuosity to multiple roles, from the loud commands of brassy Big Betty to the spiel of a Cockney carnival barker.

 

Slattery displays versatility as the innocent Ruta and the prematurely jaded art student Roxanne, not to mention Alice falling down the rabbit hole. Jeremy Shranko does an impressive Bo Diddley dance as Betty’s doltish assistant Dwayne, and is a picture of sinister sophistication as the mimic Cardano. Don Oscar Smith is the picture of gentle concern as Ruta’s Grandfather, Liz Davies is sharp as the predatory Professor Ahriman, and Lauren Campedelli is appropriately confused as acting teacher Vivien, the umpteenth body transfer of Margo Veil. Tom Fitzpatrick, however, probably has the most fun, delivering perfectly wrought character turns, particularly as the egotistical LeStrange or in making booming biblical pronouncements as radio preacher Reverend Ford.

 

Bart DeLorenzo’s direction is marvelously fluid, changing styles in a moment, and his command of theatrical tools is very much on display here. Every moment has been creatively conceived, from bigger things such as the ensemble providing funny but effective sound effects throughout or a lively dance where all the dancers die one by one, to the small but lovely detail of a jar of marmalade floating up into the falling Alice’s hand. I’ve thought DeLorenzo was probably the best director in L.A. for a while now--this tour de force proves it. Len Jenkin’s play is a fabulous recursive puzzle that celebrates the primacy of story with style and wit, and it’s found the ideal presenters in Evidence Room. Lap Chi Chu’s expert lighting creates and maintains an otherworldly vibe, while Ann Closs-Farley’s colorful costumes liven the stage. John Zalewski’s sound design is reminiscent of David Lynch’s ominous work, a wall of white noise in the background that provides a contrast to the generally more cheerful things happening in the foreground. – Terry Morgan

 

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