Review: Mooncalf
Road Theatre, 14141 Covello Street #9-D, Van Nuys, 818-785-6175
by Barry Williams
The Road Theatre’s latest production at its new location in Van Nuys is yet another must-see on your fall theatre-going list. While the piece is not as alive and vital as their season opener, Vig, it is, nonetheless, a compelling and striking story of a trusting innocent named Timmy (Christopher Faville) who works in a tanning factory in rural New England. The play is both a tale of Timmy’s attempt to lead a life that has both meaning and purpose and an exposé on the effects of hazardous waste chemicals and the industries that have dumped them recklessly into the environment.
The play, which is written by Leon Martell and based on his real-life experiences, tends to lack a solid through line. Most of the problems occur in the second act, when a number of bizarre and not-for-the-squeamish scenes make the play too fragmented and obtuse. However, when the piece stays focused exclusively on Timmy and his dysfunctional world, it works well. Martell’s script attempts to become more didactic in its excoriation of toxic chemicals and inappropriate behavior on behalf of environmentally unsafe manufacturing industries. When these passages arise, it seems inadequate and not fully developed. I would have preferred to see the screws put to the tanning company more than Martell has allowed, but, ultimately, this play is about Timmy, the “mooncalf” of the title, and it is in this realm that the play is most powerful.
The dictionary describes a “mooncalf” as a “congenital imbecile,” “a foolish person,” or “a person who spends time idly daydreaming.” The Riverside Shakespeare definition of the same is “a monstrosity, a creature born misshapen because of lunar influence.” Timmy is all of these things, and he tries repeatedly to blanket his squalid existence with romantic notions, including the possibility of a relationship with a pretty, blond girl, Nancy (played admirably and compassionately by Karen Gregan), and his eventual dealings with a couple of other drifters who come to work at the factory (Lance Guest and Ken Sawyer). It is through their ruthless machinations that Timmy is forced to cope with a number of psychological issues, including the death of his mother, grappling with his mental deficiency and the subsequent problems it presents in regard to understanding his sexuality. Further, Timmy entertains a fanatical obsession with all things grotesque, peculiar, and strange, as if he is searching for the dark underpinnings that reflect his own life.
All of this is played against the backdrop of The Road Theatre’s very professional set, lighting and superb technical elements. Supervising Producer Brad Hills’ staff are offering some of the most consistently electric and dramatic theatre in Los Angeles. There is a degree of craftsmanship at work here not readily available in the majority of theatres in this city. For instance, Vince Moore’s set design is, by varying degree, pragmatic, austere and haunting; its multi-functional use lends the play a number of distinct shifts in mood and setting. The set is imaginative and capable of giving the actors a tremendous degree of variety in which to work. Equally complementary is David Flad’s versatile and ethereal lighting—always dead-on in its assessment and visually true to the scene being played.
While there are many elements of Act Two that seem a bit too surreal, director Taylor Gilbert threads the evening together with some taut and thoughtful direction. The scenes are played quickly, almost staccato in their brevity, and the pacing is dynamic and pulsing. There are dramatic moments in the second act that are riveting and an attempted rape scene that is almost too realistic to sit through.
The Road Theatre has assembled yet another fine cast of talent for Mooncalf. Christopher Faville as Timmy is an eerie and solid turn; he is alternately whimsical and aloof and yet plays the defective qualities of his character to perfection. Faville has some difficult challenges to meet in this play and he manages all of them with solid choices and a fine attention to detail. Lance Guest and Ken Sawyer are also standouts as the drifters that become a hellish addition to Timmy’s existence. There is excellent body language displayed early on between Guest and Sawyer that acts as a precursor to the underlying violence waiting to erupt. Particularly effective is Sawyer, who meanders around the stage with a demonic intensity that is hard to not watch. Sawyer is Machiavellian in his delivery and, together with Guest, the two become a marvelous nemesis for Timmy.
Mooncalf is yet another example of daring and risk-taking contemporary theatre that is quickly becoming the signature of the professional ensemble that is The Road Theatre Company. ♦